A Hero's Awakening
by Agnostics Puppet
Summary: [City of HeroesRanma 12] One day, after the fiasco of the failed wedding, Ranma attempts to save a strange girl. Unknowingly, he recieves a gift from her that will change his life forever. Teen for now.
1. Chapter 1

'Gotta run!' Crimson Sun urged to her self, staggering down the alleyway as fast as she could hobble.

She was in bad condition, her red and black leather uniform hung in tatters from her slight frame and numerous bruises and lacerations were scattered across the exposed skin. Never in her life was she in so much danger as now.

Sun swiped a stray lock of her red hair from her vision as she ran. Normally she didn't have to worry about such a trivial thing; her hair would be wild with the uncontrollable energy that her body leaked. But she had expended all that energy in her panicked flight.

Gasping for breath, Sun paused to rest however briefly against the side of a building. 'How did they find us here in Japan?' she thought. 'We told no one where -'

The whine of a winding chain gun interrupted her as it discharged a stream of bullets. She dove around the corner of the building, the projectiles barely missing her already battered and bleeding form by mere inches to pepper holes on the wall she took cover behind. Sun winced as large chunks of brick and mortar rained down on her. She peeked around the corner and gasped, realizing her pursuers were closer than she thought.

"She's down here!" said pursuer shouted, as he began winding the chain gun again in preparation for another volley of projectiles. The afternoon sun did nothing to lessen his armors hideous appearance as it reflected off the immaculately polished, gun metal grey panels. He glanced up and down the alley, the servos in his power armor buzzing in the near silence as he looked for her.

Sun allowed herself a small smile. 'Just an eliminator,' she thought, standing up against the wall. 'We should have enough energy to take him out.'

Sun whipped from behind the wall, firing a small blast of white energy from her outstretched hands. Her eyes glowed briefly with the same iridescence.

The soldier was completely unprepared for the assault and couldn't dodge out of the way in time, the blast catching him in the chest and blasting through the armor. He staggered back, clutching the spider web cracks the blast made on the breastplate and collapsed to the ground.

"Jones!"

Crimson Suns eyes widened as a more significant threat ran up to his fallen comrade. His armor was similar but had red markings on the shoulders and forearms and instead of a chain gun, he had blaster barrels that protruded from his wrists, "You bitch!" he snarled, leveling one arm toward the surprised woman. "We were supposed to take you alive but I don't think they'd mind experimenting on your CORPSE!"

Sun dove to the side but not fast enough as the blast of bluish energy tore into her thigh. She hit the ground hard, clutching the shredded leg. "Argh!" she screamed. "A power tank, here? They must be serious."

The sound of booted feet coming around the corner of the building into the alley spurred her into action. Ignoring the pain, she staggered to her feet and hobbled away as fast as she could. 'We have no energy left…' she mused, a panicked smile on her face. 'I think we're going to die.'

For the first time since their fusion, the peacebringer known as Crimson Sun was afraid for her life.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Ranma sighed heavily, as he tossed another pebble into the canal and watched the ripples as they were carried down stream with the lazy flow. He leaned back in the grass and tried to relax. It had been three weeks since his fateful encounter with the being known as Saffron, and things just weren't the same.

He had killed to save Akane.

It didn't matter that the being he killed was immediately reborn, or that Saffron held no grudge against the martial artist for his actions. Ranma had still taken a life to save the woman he loved and everything seemed somehow different.

Sure, everything was still his fault according to Ryoga.

Sure, Akane still malleted him into the ground whenever she got angry at him.

Sure, he still had three fiancées.

Sure, upon returning, his father and Mr. Tendo had immediately dumped a wedding on them only to have said wedding crashed by everyone else.

It wasn't like he WANTED to get married or anything; his dad had knocked him unconscious and put him in the tux, but still… Akane had looked good in that wedding dress.

No, the difference was, he had all but shouted to the world that he loved Akane, and she said nothing in response. Granted, she had been much nicer to him between Saffron and the wedding incident, but perhaps that was because he was too busy brooding to bother putting his foot in his mouth.

Things were different because he wasn't sure of his feelings anymore. Akane still hadn't reciprocated his declaration that he loved her. Even when he confronted her about the wedding and told her she looked beautiful in that dress, she had only responded saying, "You love me, right?" and with the eventual threat that he'd be sorry if he backed out. When he asked her why, she told him that one of the wedding gifts was a cask of nanniichaun water. She had been keeping that a secret from him despite knowing how much he wanted a cure to his curse, and was going to force him to marry her to get it. 'So much for thinkin' that she's any different from the rest of the girls...' Ranma thought wryly.

She had even blamed him for the failed wedding. He didn't invite every loon in Nerima, Nabiki did. Would someone you thought you loved and loved you back, do something like that?

After things calmed down from the crashed wedding, things took on an air of normalcy again. Shampoo and Ukyo resumed chasing him, and Akane would call him a pervert for not telling them off. Akane would cook and bash Ranma when he refused to poison himself. 'I cant…I cant do this anymore.' Ranma thought. 'Maybe I aught a leave…get things straightened out. I can come back then.'

'Ill tell them tonight and leave in the morning.' Ranma picked up another pebble and tossed it in to the water, and listened to the multiple splashes it made. Wait… multiple splashes? Ranma picked up another rock and threw it, listening intently as hit the water. 'No,' he thought, as the rapid staccato noise was heard again. 'That almost sounds like…gunfire?'

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Crimson Sun knew it was futile as she scrabbled across the concrete toward a canal. She had one hand clutched to her midsection over a nasty looking wound that gushed blood. Her other arm hung loose at her side, the victim of a gunshot wound that tore through her shoulder muscle.

Fortunately, the people chasing her were lousy shots, but with as many shots as they were firing at her, they were bound to get lucky with a few of them. And they had, many times now. She knew she was going to die, but the kheldian that was symbiotically bound with her had one last mission to achieve.

Another volley of bullets ricochet around her, one catching her in the foot. She fell haphazardly on her injured shoulder and cried out in pain. Blinking through the tears, she pulled herself forward with her good arm toward the canal and tumbled down the embankment, coming to rest next to where Ranma sat. Unable to continue she lay gasping for breath before giving the boy a pleading look.

Ranma blinked a few times at the bloody woman that had just collapsed next to him. "H-hey? You ok?" he asked dumbly, as he crouched next to her.

Sun winced painfully in response. She shook her head briefly, recognizing the Japanese the boy used. "H-help…" she gasped.

"She went down that way!" a mans voice barked out in english.

Ranma ignored the man and gingerly scooped the injured woman into his arms and ran into a nearby tunnel. When he got half way through, he stopped and tried his best to hide in the shadows. He couldn't keep this girl safe and fight off her attackers at the same time. He was aware of a warm liquid flowing down his forearms to drip off of his elbows. He looked down at the woman in his arms and his eyes widened in alarm as her eyelids drooped. "Hey now. Stay with me."

Suns eyes fluttered open weakly. She knew that this boy was the one that would harbor the kheldian inside her. 'Are you ready, Bright?' she mentally asked the alien entity. 'Ill miss you.'

Her entire body began to glow a warm whitish blue in response. She reached up and cupped Ranmas cheek with her good hand and looked into his eyes, imploring the boy to understand what she was about to do.

Ranma could only stare back in wonderment. "Wha-"

His response was cut off as Sun pulled his head closer and kissed him gently on the lips. He didn't protest. He knew that something was happening but was unable, unwilling even to stop it. The simple action of the kiss was important. Perhaps the most important thing to ever happen in his life.

And his world exploded in blinding light.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

When Ranma lowered his arm from in front of his face, the first thing he noticed was that he wasn't in the canal tunnel anymore. In fact, he was sure he wasn't even in Japan. He glanced around him and saw that he was standing in clearing in a bamboo forest, the sky above him was mostly clear. Occasionally a cloud would pass by. "Where am I?" He asked.

"This is your sub conscious," a light twinkling voice responded.

Ranma, not expecting an answer, yelped and spun around dropping into a tight defensive stance. He dropped it though, mostly from the shock of what greeted him. The woman that floated before him was beautiful, her white hair waved gently in the breeze along with the white gown she wore. Her entire body glowed with a soft white light and had an ethereal quality to it. Ranma swore he could see right through her.

"Who are you?" He asked, finally relaxing with the serene aura the woman was exuding

"My name is bright," The woman said. Ranma noted that her lips didn't move when she spoke. "I'm sorry to have startled you, Ranma, but right now, this is the only way you and I can communicate."

"How do ya know my name?" Ranma asked lamely.

"I know many things about you, young Saotome." Bright responded with a smile. "I did summon you here to your own subconscious."

Ranma frowned. Here he was, standing in his own mind with a woman who claimed to know a lot about him. Stranger things had happened to him but it was still unnerving. Judging by her appearance she had to be a ghost.

"No, Ranma, I am not a ghost." Bright said with a slight giggle.

Ranma nearly fell down from shock. "You can read my mind?!" He shouted. "How!?"

Bright sighed, her serene face falling to a slight frown. This is how it went when she fused with Melanie to form Crimson Sun too. Perhaps she should just come straight out and tell him what was going on instead of letting him figure it out like Melanie did.

"Ranma," she started. "I am a kheldian, a being of energy. This form I have taken in your mind is to better put you at ease in dealing with me. Where to start…"

"How bout from the beginning?" Ranma said, with a frown. "Like, why are you in my head?"

Bright nodded. "Very well. When Crimson Sun kissed you," she smirked at Ranmas blush at this, "It was because she was dying and needed to pass me on to another host."

"Host?"

Bright nodded again. "Indeed. Kheldians are parasites of sorts." We cannot survive in earth's atmosphere without the protection of a human host." Ranma looked liked he was about to say something but, guessing what he was going to say, Bright continued. "Don't worry, Ranma. We are benign, and mutually beneficial to our hosts, should they so wish it."

Ranma sat down in the soft grass. This sounded like it was going to be interesting. "How so?"

"Well," Bright began. "In return for protection and a bit of sustenance via your bio electric energy -" She paused when Ranma blanched. "A very small bit, I assure you. In return, I can grant you incredible powers."

"But?" Ranma asked. One didn't live in and around Nerima without wising up to things. "There's a catch."

Bright sighed. "Yes, unfortunately. If we do merge, and we will have to if the host desires the powers, the host's physiology changes and they become no longer human. They become what are called a Peacebringer or a Warshade."

Ranma thought for a second. More power was always a good thing, given his life. But gaining through a symbiotic relationship with a ghost, ('I'm not a ghost, Ranma,' Bright said again.) seemed odd. He was never a big fan of possession. That and he didn't really want to lose himself. "What if I don't wanna merge? What then?"

Bright aura dimmed slightly, evidence that she was disappointed. She had been certain that this boy would be the one to accept her as her next host. His energy seemed so ready and inviting. Oh well… "Then I humbly ask that you allow me to remain in your body till I can find a suitable host." She said softly.

Ranma was taken aback by her tone of voice. "Y-yeah you can stay…I guess. I mean, so long as we don't completely merge, I'm still me right?"

Bright nodded sadly. "It shouldn't take too long to find another. And there are no ill effects from me inhabiting your body unless we completely merge."

"Ok then." Ranma said. "Ill even help you look! I can talk with ya again right?"

Bright's eyes lit up. "You'd help me? Truly?" Ranma nodded. "Oh thank you Ranma. Yes, you can communicate with me any time you desire. All you need to do is direct your thoughts toward me."

Ranma was about to say something, but Bright cut in. "You had best wake up now Ranma. We are in danger."

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

"She's down here! We got her!" were the first words Ranma heard when he opened his eyes. He crouched down and hid deeper in the shadows while the man in the black suit advanced cautiously into the tunnel. Ranma spared a quick glance at Suns still body and frowned. These people were willing to kill to get what they wanted. He would have to attack quick and decisively.

'Try and keep them from escaping, Ranma' Bright said from Ranmas subconscious. 'And try and keep at least one of them conscious. We need to get some information from them.'

Ranma nodded as he watched the suit step closer to Suns corpse. The man knelt down and felt her neck for a pulse. "Damn," he cursed. He pushed a button on the array he wore on his head. "Target is neutralized. I repeat. She's dead."

Ranma didn't hear any reply but he didn't need to. He glowered as he stepped out of the shadows behind the man. "You're gonna wish you were dead by the time I'M done with you, ass hole." He snarled, grabbing the man in a full nelson hold.

"What the-" the man started, but he was cut off abruptly as Ranma took the man roughly to the concrete deck, his head impacting painfully with the cement and jarring the communications array from his scalp. Lights flashed in the mans eyes and he blacked out.

"Richards, respond." The voice came from the earpiece of the array. Ranma could hear it now that it wasn't in the mans ear. "Richards! Respond!"

Ranma looked at the ceiling of the tunnel, as if he could see the men above him. Ranma didn't notice the unconscious man teleport away, his emergency medical transport device beaming him to a nearby facility. Reaching his senses out, he could feel four auras, and none of them seemed a viable threat beyond one, whom Ranma assumed was their leader. "Feh, easy." He said. "'Cept that one. He might give me a challenge."

He calmly stepped out of the tunnel and vaulted to the street above. One of the people, a woman in a black suit with blond hair and black sunglasses, gasped as the teen landed lightly on the pavement. She turned to shout something to her comrades; another man in a black suit with sunglasses, and two men in bulky silver power armor. One was unarmed and the other carried a nasty looking chain gun. 'Remember Ranma, quick and decisive.' Bright reminded him.

Normally, Ranma wouldn't have hit a woman, but it was obvious at this point that these people didn't think twice about lethality. "Gotcha." He snarled, springing forward to land a heavy fist in the woman's gut. He followed up with a right sweep and another jab to her sternum after she fell, taking her out of action. "Weak."

He sighted his next target, the man in the power armor with the chain gun, amidst the chaos. The other two looked unarmed, and that he could handle. But the chain gun could be problematic, as Ranma didn't have any experience dodging bullets. He quickly took to the air, flipping over to plant both feet firmly on the front of the mans helmet, before the chain gun could finish winding up. Ranma leapt off, at the same time pushing the mans head into the concrete with a sickening crunch.

Ranma landed, and noticed the man lay still on his back. 'Two down.' Ranma thought to him self with a smirk.

'Careful Ranma,' Bright admonished. 'They look like Crey operatives. The one in the power armor is a power tank. He should be taken down next.'

"We have an unexpected super." The other man in the black suit said. "We need back up."

"Bull!" the power tank snarled back. "It's just a scrapper. I can take him."

"Bring it tin man!" Ranma taunted back. "I bet you cant even lay a finger on me."

The power tank growled as he lunged forward with a nasty haymaker, but Ranma simply leaned away, the punch missing him by an inch. He followed up with an upper cut and a kick that Ranma dodged just as easily.

"That all you got?" Ranma taunted.

"BURN!" the man growled as he leveled his energy blasters at Ranma.

Ranma felt the brief energy build up and managed to fall to the ground, but not soon enough to avoid his shoulder being singed by the white hot energy that was blasted his way. He looked over his should and saw the energy impact with the remaining black suited man, throwing him a good thirty feet and into unconsciousness. "Whoa…" Ranma breathed, recovering his stance. "Maybe I ought a take you serious."

Ranma dodged another punch and gaped as the blow took out a section of the street. "Definitely gotta take you serious now." He said falling into an offensive stance. "Time to end this."

The man in the power armor blindly rushed forward with another haymaker again, but this time, Ranma met him in mid charge. He pushed an elbow into the mans sternum, cracking the armor, then whirled around to land a chop to the back of the mans neck. Ranma winced painfully, realizing that the armor was harder than it looked, but smirked anyway. His counter had the desired effect of sending the man sprawling.

Ranma cupped his hands together in front of him as the man in the armor started to get to his feet weakly. "Good night." Ranma said cockily. "Moko Takabisha!" The blue energy ball slammed into the mans back, crushing him to the pavement and leaving him unconscious in a crater in the street.

'Goodness me!' Bright exclaimed. 'Was that really necessary?'

"You said quick and decisive" Ranma reminded her, brushing some dust from his red Chinese style shirt. "Besides. That wasn't even full power."

Bright face faulted in Ranmas mind. 'Do you even need my help?' she said exasperatedly.

Ranma smiled his trademark smirk. "Nah not really. Ranma Saotome don't lose. And I always keep my promises." It was at this point Ranma realized that none of the Crey operatives were present. "Hey! What gives?" he shouted.

Bright gasped, seeing everything through Ranmas eyes. 'I didn't think they're emergency teleports would work here.' She said, worriedly. 'That means that they have a base of operations somewhere in Tokyo.'

Ranma frowned as he thought that over. Then he smiled saying, "Then we just have to track 'em down and take 'em out right?"

'That would have been easier if you had subdued one of them instead of rendering them all unconscious.' Bright chided. Ranma winced. 'But now it cant be helped.'

"Hey" Ranma cut in, remembering Crimson Suns body in the tunnel. "What should we do about the girl in the tunnel?"

'She activated her distress beacon when she realized that her life was in danger,' Bright explained. 'Someone will be along to recover her soon.'

"Ill pay those Crey jerks back for what they did to her," Ranma said, clenching his fists. Bright smiled inwardly. They boy had a good heart. He would make a perfect host, and a good hero.

'At least we know that they have a base here; we just need to find out where.'

"I think I can call in a few favors." Ranma said. Nabiki did owe him for the damage to his mother's house. "Besides." He added as his stomach growled. "Its time for dinner and Kasumi's cooking tonight."

If bright had eyes to roll…

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the nearby ward of Shinjuku in an underground facility beneath the Daimyo Tech building, the power tank that Ranma had dispatched woke groggily to a sight he wished he would never have to see again.

The man standing over him was muscular, his fit form covered with a well oiled black leather ensemble that hugged his toned physique. He had his arms crossed and his glowing purple eyes were glowering at the tank from under black bangs. "You have failed me, Grainger. And when you fail me, you fail our countess."

The tank quailed under the nictus fused mans ire. He realized that his armor was gone, most likely being repaired after the damage that unknown scrapper had done to it. "F-forgive me lord Death Shroud. We…we met with some unexpected...er.resistance."

"Your armor is being analyzed as we speak." Death Shroud spat. Truth be told, he was a bit worried. Nothing save the members of the Freedom Phalanx back in Paragon City had the power to do that kind of damage to a fully functional suit of Crey power armor. Either one of the heroes had followed them here, or more than likely, based on the reports from the field agents, it was one of the so called oriental heroes he had heard about on the news. This could be problematic. But at least the meddling peacebringer was killed. "Seeing as the operation wasn't a total failure, Im going to give you a second chance."

"Thank you my lord," the tank groveled.

"When you have fully healed, I want you to report to the implantation lab." Death Shroud said to the man, ignoring the shocked look on his face. "You have been deemed suitable for a nictus bond. But if you fail me again," he continued. "Ill make you wish that hero had killed you."

Death Shroud left the clinic ward, ignoring the stunned gibbering of the man behind him. He knew fully well that the man wasn't suitable for a nictus bond, and implanting him with a nictus fragment would turn him into a mindless monster. But mindless monsters were perfect fodder for unknown heroes. "Now to take a look at the surveillance footage," Death shroud said, settling himself at his desk.

He typed a few keys on his computer and brought up the video from the power tanks armor, and watched the pursuit of the peacebringer, fast forwarding through the non combat intervals. He smirked satisfactorily as the woman sustained her fatal wounds and collapsed down the embankment.

"Shes down here! We got her!" one of the field agent's voices came from the tunnel.

There came a sharp crack over the tanks communications feed then silence. "Richards, respond." The tank had said. "Richards! Respond!"

At this point the unknown hero leapt to the street. Death Shroud paused the video and scrutinized the Japanese man. No, the boy, he realized. This boy couldn't be more than eighteen years old. And the ease that he dispatched a fully trained field op unit. He watched more of the video till the video cut off due to damage to the armor, but he paused it anyway to glance at the energy readings the armors sensors gathered. He seemed to be nothing more than a scrapper type hero, with martial arts and super reflexes, but the tank was taken out by a very powerful energy blast to the back, the likes of which Death Shroud hadn't seen since leaving Paragon City.

"I must have him." He said, wistfully as he began to do research on who the boy was. "Oh yes, I will have the boy…"

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Ranma sneezed, and winced in agony as the plasma burn on his shoulder pained him. "I should stop by Doc Tofu's clinic to get this looked at." He said.

'Nonsense,' Bright said. 'Relax for a moment and Ill demonstrate one of our powers.'

Ranma felt a warm energy travel from his core to his shoulder and watched in amazement as the glistening, burned blister faded away, not leaving so much as a scar. He moved his arm experimentally and felt no pain. "Hey! Thanks! That could come in handy!"

'Indeed. I can even heal others.' Bright said proudly.

"Would I be able to do that if we merged?" Ranma asked as he resumed his walk back to the dojo. "Not that I really wanna merge…"

'Of course,' Bright said. 'And I've been thinking about that too. I believe there's a way to allow you to access my powers without a full merge.'

"Oh?" Ranma asked. New powers and techniques were always welcome. Especially when there was no hassle involved in getting them.

'Yes,' Bright continued. 'Normally, when a kheldian and a human merge, the powers a fueled by the new beings stamina. I've noticed that you have an exorbitant amount of stamina and something else as well…spirit energy I'd call it.'

"That'd be my ki," Ranma stated proudly. "But what about it?"

'I was getting to that. It occurred to me that your 'ki' its remarkably similar to my own kheldian energy, and quite tasty I might add. Tastes like blueberries.' Bright said offhandedly. Ranma blushed at that comment but Bright ignored it and continued. 'I think I may be able to convert some of your ki into kheldian energy and teach you how to utilize it for some basic powers.'

"Like?"

'Like the healing power I just showed you for one,' Bright said. 'You can also use it to increase your physical strength and speed a fraction and even project it like you did with that energy attack of yours. You may even be able to fly, though I'm not sure you can unless we fully merge.'

Ranma 'hmm'ed' in thought, while Bright continued rambling, obviously excited about teaching Ranma about her powers. 'I can also teach you how to wrap your hands and feed in the energy to increase the effectiveness of your physical combat capabilities.'

This caught Ranmas attention. Ok!" Ranma decided, pounding his fist into his palm. "Lets do it!"

They walked in silence for a bit, while Bright concentrated on converting Ranmas ki to kheldian energy before Ranma piped up again. "We're home." He said. "I cant wait to tell everyone about this."

'About that Ranma,' Bright said, hesitantly. "It may be best if you kept this all a secret, barring your contact you spoke of earlier."

"Whys that?" Ranma asked.

'Because, there are a lot of people and organizations that would be interested in killing or acquiring you if word were to spread.'

"I think Nabiki could keep it a secret. Kinda like a superhero or somethin'" Ranma noted.

Bright smiled at the analogy. 'Or something.' She said before going back to working on energy conversion.

Ranma walked up to the front door of the Tendo residence, ignoring the small tugs on his ki that told him Bright was working. "I'm home!" he called out.

'I did it!' Bright cheered, and Ranma felt an upsurge of energy in his core. 'I know how to convert the energy!'

At that moment, Kasumi came out of the kitchen to greet him. "Welcome home Ranma….kun?" she trailed off as she noticed Ranma's state. His shirt was torn and he was fairly dirty but most of all…his eyes were leaking white energy. "Are you all right Ranma?" she asked, concern lacing her voice.

"Eh?"

'OH NO!' Bright mentally shouted. 'Your eyes! I forgot about the eyes! Quick make an excuse!'

"I…um…uh…new technique." Ranma said lamely, as he felt the energy surge fade. His eyes stopped glowing. "I forgot to turn it off…"

"Oh," Kasumi said with a smile. "Well then, dinner will be ready soon. I think you have enough time to go get cleaned up if you want."

"Thanks Kasumi. Hey where is everyone?" Ranma asked as he made for the stairs.

"Our fathers are outside playing a game and I believe Akane is in the dojo. Nabiki should be in her room." Kasumi answered, returning to the kitchen.

Ranma went briefly to his room to get a change of clothes and paused, considering something. "Hey Bright?" he asked curiously. "When you say you can read my mind, does that mean you know everything about me?"

'Only your surface thoughts Ranma,' Bright answered. 'And then only if you want me to know them.'

Ranma smirked, almost able to picture Bright's face. "You're in for a shock in the shower then."

Ranma undressed and walked into the bathroom. He filled up the bucket with cold water and doused himself, triggering the curse and transforming into a girl.

'……Oh my…'

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Ranma sat down at the dinner table in his usual spot and waited patiently for Kasumi to bring out dinner. Since the shower, Bright had been silent. 'Hey, Bright?' Ranma thought. 'You're not mad or nothin', are ya?'

'Hm? No, not at all Ranma,' Bright responded. 'Your…curse as you called it just took me by surprise.'

'So you don't think I'm a freak?' Ranma asked cautiously.

Ranma was so lost in his conversation with Bright he didn't notice everyone else seat themselves at the table, nor dinner being served.

'Not at all!' Bright said. 'Back in Paragon City, there are many people with strange and unique powers.'

'Oh,' Ranma said, relieved. 'I was just worried there for a sec.'

"Hey Ranma baby?" Nabiki finally said, waving her hand in his face. It was one thing for Ranma to be broody. He had been since the wedding, and she felt that it was partially her fault, not that she'd admit that to anyone. But for Ranma to completely ignore dinner… That was akin to the twilight zone.

"Huh?" Ranma said, snapping out of his daze. "What?"

"You ok?" Akane asked. Truth be told, she was worried about Ranma too. She had noticed the change in his attitude after the wedding and felt rather guilty about extorting him in to it. She hadn't needed to smash Ranma nearly as much since then.

"Yeah." Ranma responded. "Fine. Just lost in my thoughts."

Nabiki smirked and assumed a mock surprised look. "Ranma? Thoughts? Treat them kindly, they're in a strange place."

"Har har." Ranma deadpanned as he finally served himself some rice and a piece of fish. Ranma began to eat, slowly and deliberately as he tuned out the family and resumed his conversation with Bright.

Ranma eating slowly and deliberately was akin to the apocalypse and everyone began staring at the boy, with the exception of Genma who took advantage of the moment to try and steal some of Ranma's fish. Ranma casually deflected the incoming chopsticks.

Well, casual is an understatement.

Genma dropped his chopsticks as they burst into white flame, and everyone except for Kasumi backed away from the table. "Your new technique?" She asked curiously.

'Oops…' Bright said, embarrassed. 'Guess I didn't get rid of all the energy.'

Ranma sighed, as everyone stared at him with even more panic. Now was as good a time as any to tell them. He placed his chopsticks on his plate and stood up. "I'm leaving in the morning. Nabiki, I need to talk to ya later." He stated simply, as he turned and left the room.

Only after he left did anyone say anything. "What on earth was that, Saotome?" Soun asked, astounded.

"I have no idea, Tendo." Genma said. "Someone needs to go talk to the boy though."

All eyes turned to Akane. "Me?" she asked incredulously. "Why me?"

"You're his fiancée, daughter." Soun stated simply. "It's your duty as his future wife."

Genma nodded in affirmation.

Akane looked around the table and sighed, seeing no sympathy from anyone. "Fine!" She snarled, standing up from the table. Stomped up the stairs and stopped at the guest room door. It sounded liked Ranma was talking to himself.

"Yeah, I know I shouldn't a been so gruff, but they wouldn't listen to me otherwise." He said. There was a pause and Ranma continued. "Well, it was 'bout time I left anyway. I need to get some stuff straightened out and figure out what I'm gonna do with my life. That and I made that promise."

'Promise?' Akane asked confused. 'What promise? That jerks hiding something from us again.'

"Yeah, the one with the short black hair is Akane. My fiancée." Ranma said. A pause, and he continued. "Feh, it's not like either one of us asked for it. I'm only eighteen for cryin out loud! I don't wanna get married yet!"

Akane nodded from behind the door. She could agree with that.

There was another pause and Ranma continued. "Yeah, she can be uncute, she can't cook and she's violent at times…"

Akane bristled. She had heard enough. Let him leave if he wants to, why should she care? She stomped back down the stairs not hearing Ranma continue.

"But she can be really cute when she smiles, and kind when she wants to be. I think I might love her."

Meanwhile, Akane slumped back down at the table, rage in her eyes. "Let the jerk leave if he wants to. I don't care anymore."

"You didn't find out what was going on?" Nabiki asked.

Akane shrugged with more force than she meant to. "He was probably up there with one of his OTHER fiancées planning a trip or something."

Nabiki sighed, noting the sad glimmer in her younger sister's eyes. "I'll go talk to him, she said, standing up from the table. She made a mental note to ask Ranma about his 'new technique' as she noticed Genma prodding the charred remains of his old chopsticks with a new pair.

Ranma stopped his conversation with Bright when he heard a knock on his door. "Ranma, it's Nabiki. Can I come in?"

Ranma blinked. Nabiki never bothered to knock before. "Uh, sure. Come on in."

Nabiki slid the door closed behind her and knelt next to Ranma as he was packing his back pack. "So, what did you need to talk to me about?"

'Tell her only what she needs to know, Ranma." Bright warned. 'I sense that this one is rather manipulative.'

'You got that right,' Ranma answered Bright before continuing. "Well…what do you know about…er…Crey I think its called?'

Nabiki put a contemplative finger to her lip as she thought. "Crey…Crey. They're a North American company, I know that much. Why do you need to know?"

Ranma stared at Nabiki for a second. "I just do. I made a promise to someone today to find out why they're here in Japan."

Nabiki quirked an eyebrow at Ranma. This was news to her. As business savvy as she was, she would have heard if one of the largest corporations in North America had expanded into Japan. Still, she did have her resources and she could find out. "What's it worth to you Ranma."

'We really don't have time-' Bright started but Ranma interrupted her.

"If you can get me the info before I leave in the morning, I'll forgive everything that happened at the wedding." Ranma stated, staring hard into Nabiki's eyes.

Nabiki knew that Ranma would eventually call her on that. Even she knew that the reason the wedding crashed was her fault. She nodded and sighed. "All right, Ranma." She said. "Ill do what I can. Good luck in what ever you are gonna do."

Ranma was going to comment on what the catch was, but Nabiki leaned over and gave him a friendly hug, leaving him speechless as he watched Nabiki leave his room. "Whoa…" he stated lamely.

Who would have thought Nabiki could be kind?

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Ranma opened his eyes to find him self in the bamboo glade that represented his subconscious. He sat up, rubbing his eyes blearily as he looked around, finally catching sight of Bright. She was floating serenely staring at the subconscious sun as it set beyond the horizon of Ranma's mind. Ranma picked himself up out of the grass and walked over next to Bright.

"Wow. Who woulda thought my mind was so pretty…" Ranma stated, putting his hands behind his head.

Bright sighed contentedly. "Indeed." She was comfortable in this boys mind, much more so than she had been in Melanie, or any other of her previous hosts. "Despite such hardships that would break a lesser being, you managed to keep your sanity, even using to better yourself. I'm impressed."

Ranma blushed at the praise. "Thanks."

Bright sighed again, preparing herself to ask a question that she already knew the answer too. "I brought you here tonight because…I was wondering if you had given any more thought to a complete merge."

Ranma looked at the grass beneath his feet, marveling at how it bent supported itself underneath him to cushion his stance. "I'm sorry Bright…I just…I cant. I don't wanna stop being me, ya know?" Bright nodded and Ranma continued. "And I'm pretty sure you don't wanna stop being you."

Bright smiled kindly at Ranma. "You are the first host that ever cared about my well being beyond your own. I appreciate that, thank you."

"Awww, its nothin'" Ranma blushed again and scratched the base of his pigtail, unused to such praise. "'Cides, I kinda like having you up here," he said, pointing at his forehead. "You're some of the best company I've had in a looooong time."

Bright laughed demurely. "I'm glad, Ranma. I like it here; in your mind, and if we were to merge, I wouldn't be able enjoy the serenity any longer."

The two of them enjoyed the sunset for a while longer before Bright continued. "I have figured out how to convert your ki into kheldian energy anyway. Unfortunately, you wont have full access to the powers of a peacebringer." She looked down at Ranma kindly. "But with what you already have, I doubt you'll need much more."

Ranma smiled again at the praise. "Thanks Bright." He paused, realizing that the last thing he remembered was going to sleep. "I should probably get back to resting. We have a long day in front of us."

"Good night," Bright said, then as Ranma faded from his own subconscious, "Dear Ranma.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

The power tank formerly known as Jacob Grainger slammed his shoulder yet again against the glowing energy field that contained him, and glared at his captives through glowing purple orbs. His mouth was now filled with sharp fangs and acidic drool dripped from his maw. His long scaled fingers ended in long, shiny, needle sharp claws, which he used to scrape futilely at the solid energy barrier that kept him captive. Only one thought ran through the difference engine that now made up his mind; 'Kill the boy.'

Death Shroud smiled evilly at his handiwork. In the energy cage before him flailed a new nictus mutation, one that till now, hadn't emerged. He looked to his left where a team of scientists were analyzing the changes to the mans DNA and sought out ways to duplicate it. The beast showed enhanced strength, speed and endurance that would rival anything in the 7th generation of Paragon Protectors. Now if he could only get his hands on the boys DNA. His countess would be most pleased with the results.

"Have him prepared by morning," he barked at the engineers and scientists that were manning the computers and machinery that was monitoring the beast.

"He has his first assignment tomorrow."

End Part 1

Here it is, my attempt at a decent fanfic. Below I'm going to include explanations to some of the terms in the story for those of you unfamiliar with City of Heroes/Villains.

**Kheldian, Peacebringer, Warshade, Nictus** - Kheldians are energy beings that are from outside our galaxy. They include Peacebringers, Warshades, and Nictus. Peacebringers, as the name implies, are peaceful Kheldians who are hunted by the Nictus. They can infuse themselves with a human host in a symbiotic relationship. A Kheldian can become immortal as long as they can move to a new host when necessary.

Warshades are Nictus that have had a change of heart and fight alongside Peacebringers. They also can infuse themselves with a human host.

Nictus are Kheldians that feed off life energy, killing Peacebringers and Warshades. Nictus use Shadow Cysts as a form of life support if no host is available. If the cyst is destroyed, the Nictus will die quickly. They can also take a host, either willing or by force, but consuming all life energy in said host before moving on.

Crey Corporation – www(dot)paragonwiki(dot)com (Too much information to list here.)

Scrapper – Close quarters combat type hero, with a secondary defensive power set.

Martial arts – One power set that scrappers have access to, mainly consisting of power full kicks.

Super Reflexes – One secondary power set that scrappers have access to, boosting their defense in the form of superhuman dodges.


	2. Chapter 2

Again, www(dot)paragonwiki(dot)com for any terms you don't know.

Added a fight, (or a beating) between Ranma and Death Shroud, after it was brought to my attention that that part falls on its face.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Ranma crouched over his pack, cramming another pair of pants next to his tent pack. He was unsure of how long he was going to be gone, and despite lessons in the past of 'bring only what you need', he decided to err on the edge of caution. He pushed a small tool kit containing camping necessities and pushed it in as well.

'I still don't see why you need to bring all that,' Bright said from his mind.

Ranma sighed. Despite being good company and an indispensable knowledge bank, the kheldian inhabiting his psyche could be an awful nag. "I told ya before, I don't know how long were gonna be away. A martial artist is always prepared." He said sagely.

'And I told you,' Bright countered. 'That I could take care of it. Crimson Sun and I brought a sizeable amount of money with us for our stay in Japan. I do know the bank account numbers.'

"That wouldn't be right," Ranma groused pushing a plastic baggie containing his toiletries in a side pocket of his pack. He spared a quick glare at the panda snoring blissfully on the futon in the room with him. "It's not my money, and I don't wanna sink to my old mans level."

If bright could shake her head in exasperation she would. The boy was being stubborn and unreasonable. She had already explained, multiple times, that Sun had the money set aside for a reason such as this, but Ranma just wouldn't listen. She decided on a different tactic. Play to his sympathy. 'You know, Ranma, Crimson Sun would have wanted you to use the money to help get back at her killers.' She said. 'You don't have to think of it as stealing. She would have wanted you to have it. I know, I was bonded with her for almost seven years.'

Ranma finished packing his bag before responding. "Okay, fine." He said. "We'll take the darn money."

'Good,' Bright said. Ranma could feel her smile mentally. 'I knew you'd see reason.'

Ranma looked up from his backpack at the door, feeling someone approach on the other side. If he guessed right, it would be Nabiki. "Come on in Nabiki."

Nabiki opened the door, and stepped lightly into the guest room, sliding the door shut with a light thump. She looked haggard, like she hadn't slept all night. Her eyes were red rimmed and had bags underneath them, and her hair was a mess. She favored Ranma with a weak smile. "It took some work, Ranma, but I found out everything I could on Crey." She said, handing over a fairly thin folder. "Didn't get a lot, but it should be enough."

Ranma took the folder from Nabiki and opened it, scanning the contents. "Thanks Nabiki. I guess we can call ourselves even." He said. "Shinjuku huh?"

Nabiki nodded, inwardly relieved that Ranma held his end of the bargain. "Yep. They operate under a front company called Daimyo Tech. Looks like they don't want anyone to know that they're here in Japan." She said, getting to her feet shakily. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed. Good luck."

Ranma watched her leave his room again and skimmed through folder again. There wasn't much info, but there was enough. Address, products…security information. Nabiki had done good work. Ranma put the folder in his backpack with the rest of his stuff after committing the address to memory. "I suppose we should get going then."

'Did you want to say goodbye to anyone?' Bright asked, a knowing tone to her voice. 'Akane, perhaps?'

Ranma left his room and walked quietly to Akane's room, pausing at the door. The whole point of this journey was to get away from here, help Bright find a new host and avenge Suns death. ''Cides,' Ranma thought bitterly. 'Akane could have said something last night.'

He turned away from Akane's room and headed downstairs, stopping when he found Kasumi waiting for him at the door. She was holding a small package wrapped in a blue cloth and staring at him with a small frown on her face. "You weren't going to say goodbye to anyone, Ranma-kun?" she asked.

Ranma sighed, scratching the base of his pigtail in embarrassment. "Ah, Kasumi…no." He said. "I think it'd be better if I just left. 'Cides, I'm coming back soon so it's not that bad."

Kasumi's frown changed to a sad expression. "If that's what you want Ranma," She said sadly, handing the package to him gently. "Akane wanted me to give you this before you left."

Ranma looked at the package in his hands curiously. "What is it?" he asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Breakfast, among other things." Kasumi replied, this time with a smile at Ranma's horrified expression. "Don't worry, Ranma. I made the food."

Ranma calmed down at that. As long as Akane hadn't made the food, it shouldn't be dangerous. "Thanks Kasumi…I guess I should get going." Kasumi surprised him by giving him a tight hug.

"Be careful Ranma. We'll miss you, and wait for you to return."

Ranma stepped outside, a feeling of guilt weighing heavily on his soul. 'Don't let it get to you,' Bright said comfortingly. 'They care about you and wish for your well being.'

"I know," Ranma replied, looking back at the house as he walked down the vacant street. He could have sworn he saw Akane in her bedroom window, watching him leave, but when he blinked and looked again, she wasn't there.

"But, now I'm not so sure…"

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Ranma's spirits lifted as he walked toward the bank eating the breakfast that Kasumi had packed for him. It was delicious as always and food always cheered him up, especially when it was as good as Kasumi's cooking. "So," he asked Bright with his mouth full. "Where is this bank that has Sun's money?"

He listened intently as Bright rattled off the directions and headed in that direction while finishing off the thermos full of miso soup. He wrapped the thermos back in the cloth and stored it back in his traveling pack. "So, have you figured out how I can use the energy you converted?" he asked Bright.

Bright shook her mental head. 'Unfortunately no, Ranma.' She replied. 'If we were bonded, it would come to you like second nature. What we are doing here has never been accomplished as far as I can remember.'

"How old are you anyway?" Ranma asked, innocently.

Bright seemed flustered at the question. Didn't this boy know you never ask a ladies age? Obviously not, though she couldn't fault him, feeling the innocence behind the question. 'I have been alive for a little over a thousand of your years.'

Ranma nearly choked. Wow, she was older than the old ghoul, and he was sure Cologne was the oldest thing on the planet. "No wonder you're so smart…" he breathed, awestruck.

Bright was a little taken aback by Ranma's response. She certainly didn't expect flattery concerning her age. This boy was definitely full of surprises. 'Thank you Ranma,' she said with an inward blush. 'Why don't you focus on trying to find the kheldian energy in your body?'

Ranma nodded, and began to feel his ki pathways for anything unfamiliar as he continued toward the bank. It didn't take him long to find it, shining like a candle in a dark room. "Found it," he said. "There's not a lot there, though."

Bright nodded knowingly. 'That's simply what you are currently able to store. The rest of the energy I converted leaked away, unused.'

"Ok," Ranma said, mentally determining to focus on improving his storage capabilities. "Now how do I use it?"

'I'd imagine that you can draw it forth much like you do your ki.' Bright stated. 'Again, had we merged, kheldian energy would most likely have been your only source of power.

Ranma blanched, silently glad he had decided against the merge. To lose his ability to channel ki would be like losing both arms and a leg. That is to say, utterly devastating. Even if he were to gain a replacement, losing both himself and his ki to the merge would be unthinkable. Clearing himself of that thought, he looked inward, locating the kheldian energies again. Grabbing hold of it, he pulled, much like he did with his ki, but the results were much more visceral.

The few people on the street this early in the morning, gasped and scurried away as Ranma suddenly exploded in a bright whiteish blue aura, the a crater forming beneath his feet, and his eyes glowing with the same energy. "Oops," Ranma said embarrassedly, as he cut back on the energy he was drawing from the reserves, so that the aura was barely visible. "I guess kheldian energy is a little more potent than my ki."

'Hmm…' Bright said. 'I don't think so.'

"What do you mean?"

'Well, if anything, kheldian energy would be about as potent as your raw ki, from what I've been able to determine,' Bright said. 'They're slightly different, much like gunpowder and petrol are different. Same effect but different substance. However, seeing as how the kheldian energy that you are able to utilize is literally made FROM your ki, it has different properties from normal kheldian energy. For example, much more potent.'

"So it's like mixing the gunpowder and gas together right?" Ranma asked. "Bigger boom.

'Something light that.' Bright said. 'Now I want you to try something for me. Move the energies to your hands and try and wrap the energy around them'

Ranma nodded, easily moving the energy to his hands, just like he did with his ki. He ignored the stares of passers by, marveling at the young man glowing like a beacon in the middle of the street. "What's this do?" he asked.

'The energy surrounding your fists will channel out ward when you hit something, creating a sizeable explosion on impact.' Bright explained. 'Peacebringers call this attack, 'Shining Strike.'

Ranma smiled, his tactical mind already thinking up uses for such a technique, such as combining it with an Amaguriken. He then frowned, noting that he couldn't channel his ki at all while he was channeling the kheldian energies. He decided to fix that when he had the time.

'I see you've noticed the limitations too,' Bright said. 'I believe that it will simply take some practice to be able to channel both energies at the same time. It will be quite useful too seeing as the kheldian energies can not enhance your physical capabilities as much as your ki can. Might I suggest and exercise?'

"Sure," Ranma said.

'Bring out minutes amounts of both energies at a time and slowly increase how much you manipulate at a time.' She said. 'At the same time, I will work on increasing your energy reserves. In the mean time, this may sting a bit.'

"What are…?" Ranma started but was cut off as a sharp pain surfaced on his forearm; he stared at the offending limb for just a moment before noticing a clean cut appear along the length. "Hey! Ow! What are you doing?!"

'Oh it's not that bad.' Bright admonished. 'I want you to try and close that wound using the kheldian energies.'

"But I can already heal myself with my ki." Ranma argued.

'Kheldian energies are better at that though. Your ki takes time to heal, and kheldian energy can heal almost immediately, and with practice you can heal others.' Bright countered. She paused, recalling how to explain the process. 'Bring the energy to the cut, much like you did with the fists, but focus on closing and knitting the wound.'

"Kinda like stitches?" Ranma asked as he started to concentrate. The wound began to glow slightly, pulling itself together.

Bright was amazed at the capacity this boy had for learning. 'A crude analogy but a workable one.' She watched as the cut pulled itself together and fused, almost exactly like a surgeon would suture a wound.

Ranma blinked stared at his forearm, amazed at the fact that his flesh was whole again. "Hey! I did it!" he shouted dancing around excitedly. This technique would make training and fight aftermaths much more withstand able.

'Good work, Ranma,' Bright praised. 'You can also do the same to others, albeit with a bit more effort.'

"Hey mommy, lookit!" a little boy pointed at Ranma, who's eyes were glowing brightly with kheldian energy.

"It's not nice to stare," the boy's mother admonished, pulling him away by his hand.

Ranma stopped dancing around when he noticed people staring at him, and let go of the energy, his eyes ceasing to glow as well. 'Perhaps we should work on flight another time…' Bright said.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Ranma stepped out of the bank, eyes wide at how much cash he was currently holding in his hands. It was definitely enough to make even Nabiki drool. "Am I really gonna need ALL this?" he asked incredulously. He easily had five hundred THOUSAND yen clutched in his grip, and easily ten times that amount still in the account.

'You can never be too sure, Ranma,' Bright responded. 'And that's just a fraction of what I have amassed over the years.'

Ranma's mind boggled at the Bright's implication. Just imagine what he could do with so much money. Ranma's imagination went wild with images of everyone praising him and groveling at his feet for making their lives so much better, but he quickly shook himself out of it. One, it wasn't his money and two; he had a mission to accomplish. Allowing himself one more quick fantasy, he stuffed the money in next to the wrapped thermos and resumed walking.

He and Bright carried on a light conversation about Bright's experiences with her other hosts while Ranma concentrated on manipulating ki and energy at the same time, slowly getting better at it. Ranma stopped and reached out with his ki while Bright was carrying on about one of her first hosts, some chick named Joan of something or another, and he found a malevolent presence behind him.

"We're being followed." He stated.

'So they decided to burn her at the- hm?" Bright stopped her rambling and felt Ranma's senses. Ranma felt an overwhelming fear radiate from Bright as she realized what exactly was tailing them. "Run. Run now…quickly." She said, her voice shaking in his mind.

"What? Why?" Ranma asked. "What could be so dangerous…?"

'JUST RUN NOW!' Bright shouted mentally, spurring Ranma into a sprint.

Just as Ranma sprinted off, the concrete where he had been standing was turned to molten rock by a purplish red blast of energy. Following that energy, a man dressed in a skintight blue body suit with banded metal gloves and boots, and a red face mask landed lightly next to the crater of molten concrete. His gloved hand gripped an alien looking rifle tightly and his white eyes glinted hatefully over his red bandanna facemask at Ranma's fleeing form. "It would seem that Bright's new vessel is a coward." He spat with a thick German accent.

"What the hell?" Ranma asked, skidding to a stop. He whirled to face the man, while Bright mentally him to keep running. "Ranma Saotome ain't no coward. Who the hell are you anyway?"

'Please please run away…he'll kill me.' Bright whimpered.

Ranma ignored her pleading and favored the masked man with a withering glare. "It would seem that God Slayer Ranma, Orochis Bane, does indeed have a back bone. Very well, since you introduced yourself, I will introduce myself, though it is meaningless seeing as I will kill you momentarily." The man favored Ranma with a deep bow. "I am known as Siegfried von Richtoven, great grandson of the legendary red baron."

'Run Ranma,' Bright urged. 'I'm begging you….please!'

'Don't worry,' Ranma thought back. 'I can take him, just you watch.'

"Feh," Ranma spat. "Whatever. Titles are just that. Titles. They don't mean nothin' unless you have the skill to back them up. But seein' as you just threatened both me AND my friend, I ain't gonna let you walk away in one piece."

Siegfried's eyes took on a mirthful look and he beckoned Ranma to come as he leveled his blaster rifle at the boy. "Then attack me little man. Lets us see what futility you can bring before you die."

'NO! Ranma!' Bright cried as Ranma dashed forward, the speed he was moving at blurring his form. He wove between the purple blasts of energy spewing forth from Siegfried's energy rifle, deciding to end this fight immediately with his new technique. He wrapped the kheldian energy around his right fist and with a cry of, "Shining Strike!" slammed it into the German mans abdomen.

But nothing happened.

Siegfried began to chuckle at Ranma's panicked expression. "That was pathetic little boy. Did Bright not train you properly?" he asked. He smiled viciously under his red mask as his hand began to glow with a sickly black and purple energy and he lazily backhanded Ranma into a nearby building. "Truly pathetic. I would have thought that Bright's latest vessel would be a true challenge."

Ranma extracted himself from the indentation he left in the wall and shook the cobwebs from his mind. That hurt and was fast enough that even he couldn't dodge it. He staggered back to his feet and faced the masked man warily. 'What the hell is he?' he asked Bright.

Bright whimpered again, a strange sound coming from a being Ranma had known as a strong individual for the past two days. 'He's a void slayer,' she said weakly. 'They are conditioned and trained to kill kheldians and their hosts and are all but immune to kheldian energy. Please Ranma, run…I…I don't want to die.'

'Don't worry…I have a plan.'

Ranma focused back on Siegfried as he leveled his rifle back at the martial artist. "If that is all you have for me, little boy, it is time to end this." He said with no humor in his voice. "Good bye."

"Not so fast!" Ranma shouted. "I haven't shown you my ultimate technique yet." Lightning crashed ominously in the background. "Prepare yourself."

Siegfried guffawed. "I feel there is nothing you can do to me…" he started, but Ranma interrupted him.

"Omigod! What's that!?" Ranma shouted pointing over the Slayers shoulder.

Taken by surprise, Siegfried whirled around and looked in the direction that Ranma had pointed. "What is what?"

"RUNAWAY!" Ranma shouted sprinting in the opposite direction, leaving a dust cloud in his wake.

"Coward!" Siegfried growled, turning back toward where Ranma had fled. "NOONE escapes me!" He sprinted off after him.

In spite of herself, Bright couldn't help but giggle. 'Ultimate technique huh?' she asked mirthfully.

"Yep," Ranma answered, vaulting to the rooftops. "Saotome ultimate technique: distract your opponent and flee so you can buy enough time to find a way to defeat him."

Bright laughed again before her mood darkened. 'I never thought he would be able to find me here,' she said sadly. 'But he claims to be the best of his organization…I guess he's not boasting.'

"Don't worry," Ranma said trying to cheer Bright up. "As long as you're with me, I won't let him do anything to ya."

Ranma winced as a blast of purple energy just missed him. "Damn it!" He swore. "He's faster than I thought." He felt Bright's panic yet again. "I have another plan, though, hold on."

Ranma dropped into a nearby alley and unsealed the Umisenken, cloaking himself completely, as he waited for Siegfried to catch up to him. "Come out and play little mouse." Siegfried taunted as he passed the alley where Ranma was hiding. "You cannot hide forever."

'Oh yes I can,' Ranma thought, sneaking out of the alley as Siegfried passed. 'But I'm not gonna…'

Truth be told, Siegfried was a little worried at this point. The boy and his kheldian had completely vanished from his nictus enhanced senses, even masking the unmistakable stench of a kheldians energy. He could have obviously have gotten away, but Siegfried's pride would not allow that possibility. No one escaped from him.

'What are you doing Ranma?' Bright asked in a panic when she noticed Ranma sneaking up on the Void Slayer.

'I underestimated him before,' Ranma stated. 'Not this time. I'm pulling out all stops...Hope this works.'

Bright quieted down as Ranma leapt into the air behind Siegfried, still keeping his energy masked, as he shouted, "Haku Dato Shin Shō! (White snake venom reliable fist)"

Ranma's hands blurred as he jabbed his fingers into as many vulnerable spots on the void slayers back as he could, sending the man to his knees in pain. "What?" Siegfried gasped in surprise, his slack hands dropping his quantum rifle.

He turned around to face his attacker but Ranma had already blurred around him to continue assaulting the mans back, throwing a knee into his already damaged kidney, then jumping on his head and pushing it down into the concrete, burying it in the rubble of the sidewalk. Ranma landed lightly and turned to survey his handy work and nearly choked when he saw Siegfried climbing shakily to his feet.

'Kill him!' Bright growled, in an uncharacteristic show of malice. She realized that Ranma just might be able to finish of a definite threat the all kheldians across the world. 'Make him dead!'

"What does it take to keep you down?" Ranma snarled, feeling Bright's emotions roll across him like a gust of wind. Just what was this guy made of? He dashed forward, not giving the monster of a man time to recover and slid between his legs, grabbing one as he recovered his feet. Siegfried had no time to react as Ranma jumped to the air, bringing the leg with him and inverting the void slayer in the process.

Ranma then proceeded to place his feet against the man's bald head and drove him face first into the ground, with a sickening crunch as Siegfried's nose was crushed. Ranma rolled off of his head and dropped to a defensive crouch, not willing to underestimate the man again and watched him warily.

Siegfried pushed himself to his hands and knees and coughed up blood. This boy…he was a monster. He knew that he wouldn't be able to beat the martial artist as he was. He favored the boy with a pained look, and noticed that the boy mirrored his horrified expression. Indeed, Ranma hadn't expected the man to even move after that last attack. "Till we meet again, young peacebringer," Siegfried said between coughs, as he activated a personal transporter.

'No! Don't let him get away!' Bright screamed with fury as the slayer vanished from view.

Ranma snarled and lunged forward but stopped and shook his head. It seemed like whenever Bright showed extreme emotions, they carried over to her host, even a temporary host. "Stop that." Ranma growled, shaking his head again to clear the murderous thoughts, while evoking the soul of ice. "You really need to work on keepin' your emotions to yourself…"

Bright recoiled slightly at Ranma's tone. She had forgotten that even temporarily residing on a human's body meant that her emotions would affect the host's feelings. 'I-I'm sorry Ranma.' She apologized. 'I had forgotten about that. Can you forgive me?'

Ranma sighed as his emotions returned to normal. "Yeah, I can." He said. "I had no idea that that guy woulda affected you like that… Who exactly was he anyway?" He asked as he left the scene of the fight.

'Siegfried von Richtoven is directly responsible for the loss of no less than five of my hosts over the last twenty years.' Bright said, sadness rolling off of her again. 'It would seem he's made it his personal conquest to destroy me.'

"Hey, I told you I'd protect you, didn't I?" Ranma admonished. "I drove him off, and I think it'll be a while before he can come back with the damage I did to him."

Bright cheered up again. 'Thank you Ranma dear.' Bright said. 'I'm sorry for doubting you.'

Ranma smiled in spite of himself, glad that he had made a new friend. But one thing still confused him… 'Ranma DEAR?'

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Ranma fumbled with the letter, reading it again as he and Bright walked toward the Daimyo Tech building. He had discovered it while he fumbled with the stack of cash to pay for his train ticked to the Shinjuku ward, and he was still numb over its contents.

"Dear Ranma," The letter started.

"I'm sorry that I can't see you off in the morning. I'm not sure how I'll react seeing you leave, and I don't want to make a fool out of myself as you go."

Here there was heavy erasure marks as the writer had struggled with exactly what they wanted to say. "I want to apologize for treating you badly, and hitting you when I know it's not your fault. I feel it is my fault that you're leaving, and I can only hope that you will be safe in your travels."

Ranma read the last part over and over again.

"Please come home soon. I'll miss you. Forever your tomboy, Akane."

Ranma sighed, regretting his decision to leave again as he folded the letter carefully and put it in his pocket. 'I told you she liked you too, Ranma.' Bright chided. Ranma swore he almost felt a hint of jealousy come from her.

"I know I know," Ranma said, waving his hands in dismissal. "It's too late to go back now, though. I made a promise and I intend to keep it."

'You should at least write them occasionally.' Bright said. 'It's obvious that at least the daughters care about you.'

"Nabiki?" Ranma shouted, not believing what he just heard. "Nabiki doesn't like anyone!"

'From what you told me of the young woman, she doesn't give favors out to anyone.' Bright countered. 'But she did one for you by giving you the information on Daimyo and Crey. AND she hugged you and wished you luck. Does that sound like someone that doesn't care for you?'

Ranma muttered something under his breath about meddling aliens but remained silent. 'What about your parents, Ranma?'

Ranma stopped walking. True, he really didn't care much for his father, but maybe he should have told his mother he was going away for a bit. He had just recently been reunited with her and he felt rather guilty about leaving with out telling her. "I'll call her soon as we find a payphone." He said.

The rest of the afternoon passed rather silently as Ranma practiced manipulating both ki and energy as he walked and Bright worked on increasing his store sizes and before he knew it, he had arrived at Daimyo Tech. Ranma stared at the five story building and came to a startling realization. "Now what?" he asked.

'I suppose you could use the invisibility again.' Bright asked.

"It's not really invisibility," Ranma corrected. "It only makes it so that my opponent can't sense my aura."

'Check the folder that Nabiki gave you again. There may be some information in there.'

Ranma pulled out the folder and began to scrutinize the documents inside with Bright's help. There was a map of the five floors with security camera locations, a list of employees… "Here we go," Ranma said finding a sheet of paper labeled, 'Job Opportunities.'

He scanned the listings but found nothing that mentioned Crey in the slightest. "Well crap!" Ranma said, exasperated. "Now what?"

'See if you can't get an interview for the secretary position,' Bright suggested. 'That way, you can at least survey the building for anything suspicious.'

"Yeah right," Ranma laughed. "Like they'd hire a guy for a secretary."

'Your curse, Ranma.'

Ranma slapped himself on the forehead. "Duh, why didn't I think of that?" He gathered up the paperwork and his back pack and went into a conveniently located nearby public bath. Moments later, a damp, female Ranma came out wearing a cute yellow sundress.

'You had a dress with you?' Bright said unbelievingly.

Ranma blushed. "Yeah," She said. "Never know…"

Ranma entered the Daimyo Tech building moments later after stowing her pack in a safe place and walked up to the receptionists desk. She had never applied for a job before and was fairly sure that this plan was doomed to failure from the start. 'Don't worry," Bright reassured the red head. 'Just say what I tell you to. Let the woman know that you're interested in the secretary position.'

"H-hi," Ranma stammered. "I'm...er…here to apply for a job."

The young woman behind the counter smiled kindly at the nervous girl before her. "Absolutely. What job were you interested in?" She asked.

"Er…the secretary job." Ranma replied. The receptionist smiled and handed her a clipboard with an application form on it. Ranma stared at the sheet of paper like it would have bitten her if given the chance.

"If you'll just have a seat over there," The woman indicated a waiting area in the lobby, "And fill out that form, Ill contact HR and see what we can do ok?"

Ranma nodded dumbly and took a seat and a pen and began to fill out the form. She paused on line one. The name. 'Hey Bright?' she asked. 'I don't think I should use my real name.'

'Indeed," Bright said. 'How about you use, Crimson Suns real name? Melanie Samson.'

Ranma soured at that. She didn't want to disrespect the dead in such a way. 'Nah, I can't do that. Hey! I know!' Ranma said as she scribbled down the kanji for Kodachi Kuno. She quickly finished fill out the rest of the form and gave it back to the receptionist. The woman scanned it briefly and picked up the phone.

"Mr. Yamada? Yes, we have a Kodachi Kuno here applying for the secretary position." She paused. "Yes sir. Right away." She hung up the phone and addressed Ranma again. "Mr. Yamada will see you right away. If you would kindly step into the elevator and go to the fourth floor, Mr. Yamadas office is on the right two doors down."

Ranma stepped in the elevator and paused as she reached for the fourth floor button. Beneath the upper five floor buttons there was a basement button with a keyed switch next to it. Ranma pushed that on a whim. The doors to the elevator closed but the car didn't move. "I guess I need a key to go down. I bet that's where they're hiding stuff."

'Hold on Ranma,' Bright said. 'I have an idea. Put your finger against the key hole.' She waited as Ranma did as she was told. 'This may tingle a bit but don't take your finger away.

Sure enough, Ranma's finger tingled like she had a bug walking across it and the key hole crackled. When Ranma pulled her finger away, a slight wisp of smoke floated from the opening. 'Try now.' Bright suggested.

Ranma pushed the basement button and it lit up, the car dropping down the shaft. "What did you do?" Ranma asked.

'I over loaded the circuits that controlled access to the basement.' Bright panted. 'Goodness, that took more out of me than I thought it would.'

Ranma was about to ask if Bright was ok when she noticed that the elevator had been going descending for much longer than it too to simply go down one floor. "I think you hit the jackpot." She remarked, as the elevator stopped. The doors pinged open and Ranma blinked as numerous gun barrels were pointed at her.

A handful of what looked like security guards dressed in blue with bullet proof vests had taken up positions at the door of the elevator, and every one of them had guns pointed at the small red head. She put her hands up in the air. "Uh…heh. Wrong floor?"

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Ranma pulled her foot away from the broken face of the last security guard and let him crumple bonelessly to the floor. She panted as she glared at the unconscious bodies of the men and women that had ambushed her at the elevator before bending down to scrutinize one of them. They had the Crey logo embroidered on their shirt sleeve, confirming that Ranma and Bright were in the right place.

She frowned down at the ruined yellow sundress that she was wearing. She wouldn't admit it to anyone but it had been her favorite dress. 'Oh well,' she thought as she pulled her usual red and black Chinese outfit from weapon space along with a thermos full of hot water. Quickly changing clothes and forms, she glanced around at his surroundings.

The walls of the hallway were made of brushed metal with the lights on the ceiling embedded into the seamless surface. The air had a stale, filtered metallic smell to it that gave the place a very alien, hi-tech feel. "Now where?" he asked.

'Perhaps to the left?' Bright suggested. 'We need to find a computer that you can insert a disk into. We need to get as much information on this place so we can alert the proper authorities.'

Ranma nodded and crept silently down the hallway cloaked in the Umisenken, eyes and ears open for the slightest threat. It wasn't long before he came upon a lab of some sort, with a row of three tanks connected to a computer system. Ranma glanced around, noting that there were just a few scientists manning the stations. 'Take them out Ranma.' Bright ordered.

Ranma crept closer to the men, swiftly and silently rendering them unconscious with a quick poke to a pressure point. Once they were out of the way, he turned his attention to the tanks, and gasped in horror. Floating in those tanks were, the dissected remains of three people, one person per tank. "What. The. HELL?"

'I believe this is the Revenant project,' Bright stated sadly. 'Crey abducts heroes and other people with extraordinary ability or exhumes their corpses and uses their DNA to conduct experiments in creating their own army of super soldiers. That's why we need to take this facility out. It's bad enough that they do this in Paragon City, much less here.'

Ranma's resolve hardened as he vowed to tear this place apart with his bear hands if he had to. He walked over to the computer console and picked a 3 x5 disk from the holder and inserted into the disk slot. Following Bright's instructions, (seeing as Ranma is about as computer illiterate as they come) he proceeded to begin downloading files all the while damning Crey for everything they had done. Everything went fine till he attempted to transfer a file entitled, 'Eighth generation project'. As soon as the file was finished downloading, the computer shut off, trapping the disk in the drive and alarms and red lights began to flash through the facility.

"Aw crap!" Ranma shouted. He bashed the computer open and retrieved the disk, putting it in his pocket for safe keeping.

'I should have anticipated alarms,' Bright groused to herself.

"Now what?" Ranma asked.

A growl sounded from behind him followed by a dark, sinister voice. "Now, you're mine."

Ranma turned around and gaped at the sight in front of him. There stood a man, dressed in black leather with black hair and purple energy leaking from his glowing purple eyes restraining what could only be called a humanoid lizard with glossy black scales, sharp claws and the same purple energy the man possessed seeping from between his scales. The lizard man strained at the leash that was holding him back and glared at Ranma with death is its eyes. "Don't hurt him too badly my pet. I want some left over to play with." The man said letting the beast go.

The beast formerly known as Jacob Grainger, blurred forward with its maw wide and teeth bared, intent on tearing the boy that it hated so much limb from limb. Ranma dodged to the side, the thrill of combat filling him yet again as he smiled his trademark cocky grin. "Siccing your dog on me?" he taunted Death Shroud, never taking his eyes off of the beast. "That's pretty sad."

'Careful, Ranma,' Bright warned as Ranma casually dodged another couple of claw swipes. 'I feel nictus taint about the both of them.'

'Nictus?' Ranma asked. 'Isn't that the same type of energy that the void dude uses?'

'Indeed,' Bright answered. 'But the nictus in the beast is unbound and I feel the one in the man has been subjugated to his will. Be careful.'

'Gotcha.'

Death Shrouds eyes took on a strange light as he watched Ranma dance around the beasts claws, noting that Ranma evaded the beast by inches every time. He sighed almost wistfully imagining a nictus infused Ranma at his side, the two of them ruling the world. "You will make a beautiful pet," he breathed.

Ranma faltered at this, and the beast took the opportunity to gouge across Ranma's torso. It licked the liquid from its claws, savoring the first blood of the fight. Ranma staggered back, clutching the wounds and glowering angrily at the beast then at Death Shroud. 'Make some energy Bright,' He told her. 'I'm done playing around.'

As soon as Bright had converted enough energy, Ranma healed the gashes on his chest, wrapping the rest of it around his fists and feet. Death Shroud observed this with a raised eye brow. So the boy was a peacebringer. He would enjoy torturing the boy and breaking him before bending him to his will.

Ranma dashed toward the beast and dodged a claw swipe before slamming a powered fist into its side. Ranma felt it ribs shatter and followed up to an elbow drop to its neck. The beast rolled out of the way and slid to a stop, green ichor dripping from its maw, from a punctured lung.

Ranma felt more than saw the energy build up in the beast's mouth and he jumped out of the way with millimeters to spare as a beam of black energy erupted forth and sheared the metal walls of the lab, exposing the earth behind them. Ranma rolled to his feed and immediately blurred toward the beast again, this time kneeing it in the chin, it teeth breaking with the impact. It head snapped back, and Ranma took the opportunity to uppercut it in the chest, and finished with a snap kick straight up that sent beast into the metal ceiling. He began charging his ki for a blast even before it hit the ceiling, 'Gimme all you got Bright,' He said.

Bright converted as much energy as she could, and Ranma gathered it in his hands aiming them straight up at the airborne beast. "Moko Takabisha Revised!" He shouted. "Shining Tiger Blast!"

The white energy blasted upward and slammed the monster through the metal ceiling and up through the packed earth as well, before dissipating a good hundred feed straight up. Ranma stepped away, panting as dirt and pieces of the splattered monster fell back through the hole and clattered off the metal floor.

'Are you ok Bright?' Ranma thought. Bright didn't respond. 'Hey, Bright?'

'I'm…fine, Ranma.' Bright responded weakly. 'Just need…to rest.'

'Then rest,' Ranma said, noting her presence fade to near nothing. 'I can handle this guy.' He turned toward the stunned nictus. "You can run now if you want. I won't mind." He said coldly.

Death Shroud, who had taken a few steps back in surprise when Ranma unleashed the blast, recomposed himself and brushed a few splatters of gore from his leathers. "It seems I underestimated you." He said calmly, as energy began to leak from his eyes. Death Shroud began to hover and a purple bubble blinked into life around him. "It is a mistake I won't repeat."

Ranmas eyes widened and he backed away from the glowing man and the power he radiated. "That's a neat display," Ranma said, smirking as he pointed at Death Shroud. "But Ive fought things that make you look like a pansy."

"Really?" Shroud deadpanned. "Tell me something then. Why can I taste your fear?"

Ranma scowled back at the man. "Quit flappin' your lips an fight then!" Ranma shouted as he jumped forward aiming a vicious knife kick for Death Shrouds neck. The kick landed solidly but the man was unfazed. Ranma tried flipping away but Death Shroud grabbed his leg and spun the boy like a lasso, the bones in Ranmas lower leg snapping like twigs before he was hurled bodily into the broken computer.

"Perhaps I have OVER estimated you, brat." Death Shroud snarled at Ranma as he floated over to the boy. "If you hadn't expended all your energy on killing my pet, you may have stood a chance against me."

Ranma staggered to his feet, favoring his unbroken leg. He smirked. 'So much for the hiryu shoten ha,' he mused angrily. Maybe I can get him with a normal Moko Takabisha. "Who says Im outta energy, ugly?"

Death Shrouds eyes widened in surprise as Ranma gathered his ki in his cupped hands. 'This must be what took out Grainger the first time,' he thought Ranma released the energy blast and smirked as it collided with the floating man, but the smirk faded when he saw the ki actually get dissipated by the purple shield protecting him.

"What the?" Ranma gasped. "No freakin' way! Moko Takabisha!" He shouted, firing another one with much the same results. And yet another.

Death shroud laughed mirthfully as he floated toward the panting boy. "I did indeed overestimate you." He said, shooting twin beams of purple energy from his eyes. "Oh well. I can find another toy."

The attack took Ranma by surprise and it connected solidly with his right shoulder, burning a hole clean through it. Ranma screamed in pain as blood gushed from the hole. 'No way can he be that powerful,' Ranma thought in a panic. 'I beat Saffron but this guy…'

Death Shroud calmly floated forward and backhanded Ranma, sending both him and the broken computer crashing into the corner of the room.

Ranma regained his feet and staggered backward, clutching his right arm that hung limply at his side, blood dripping freely from the wound in his shoulder. One of his eyes swelled shut and he knew now that his leg was ruined. 'Dammit,' he swore mentally as he backed away from the hovering Death Shroud. He stopped when his back met the cold metal of the lab wall. 'This guy is tough. He's managed to negate my Moko Takabishas and physical attacks didn't do anything. And I can't seem to make him angry enough to use a hiryu shoten ha. Wouldn't be able to do it with this leg anyway.'

Ranma smirked anyway, as Death Shroud neared him, desperately trying to find a way out of this situation. He hadn't been able to focus enough to direct what little kheldian energy he had left to heal his leg and arm.

"Confident to the last," Death Shroud taunted, his eyes glowing. "Perhaps I'll wipe that smirk off your face. I want to see you grimace in pain."

Ranma dodged to the side as the same attack that took out his arm melted through the metal wall. The eye beams faded and Ranma scooted into the corner, now afraid, but too stubborn to admit it. 'Dammit, I need some sort of distraction!' he thought desperately.

Almost as if an answer to his prayers, the wall opposite Ranma, exploded inward, and Death Shroud spun around to see just who dared to interrupt him during his fun.

"An opening!" Ranma shouted as he focused what kheldian energy he had remaining to heal his wounds. As soon as the white light faded, he tested his shoulder and leg and found them completely healed.

Death Shroud turned back to Ranma with a growl, ready to break the boy when another boy dressed in a dirty yellow shirt, black pants and a black spotted yellow bandanna stepped through the broken wall and dust behind him.

"Ranma?" Ryoga asked, spotting his eternal rival.

Ranma trotted past a stunned Death Shroud and patted Ryoga on the shoulders. "Boy, Ryoga am I glad to see you!" he exclaimed.

"What are you doing in Carlsbad Caverns?" Ryoga asked as he blinked in confusion. "And since when did the caverns start being made of metal?"

Ranma picked himself up off the floor from his face fault and bonked Ryoga on the head. "You're back in Japan idiot!" he shouted. "Don't tell me you burrowed all the way here from America!"

"Don't call me an idiot, Ranma." Ryoga shouted back at Ranma, shaking his fists in the other boys face. "And what's this I hear about you abandoning Akane!?"

"What's it to you if I leave the tomboy?" Ranma countered.

Death Shroud cleared his throat. "'Scuse me?"

"Akane is NOT a tomboy!" Ryoga shouted back, swinging his umbrella at Ranma. Ranma dodged backward and the umbrella smashed into the metal floor.

Ranma continued to dance away from the lost boy, "Oh yeah? So says her little pet pig." He said, sticking his tongue out.

Death Shroud tried again, "Uh…excuse me?"

Ryogas only response was an inarticulate roar of rage as he poked the spot where Ranma was gonna land, the metal floor exploding in a rain of shards. Ranma managed to dodge them all, now back in his element fighting his best friend. "Ooh, looks like I hit a nerve."

"Shut up and die Ranma!" Ryoga seethed while powering up an energy blast. "Shishi Hokodan!"

The green energy missed Ranma by microns, smashing into the tanks and incinerating the corpses within, as well as doing significant structural damage to the under ground room which groaned under the stress.

Death Shroud, powered down and raised his hand feebly in an attempt to get the fighting boys to notice him, but they ignored him in favor of their fight.

Ranma listened instead to the groaning of the facility and had a stroke of genius. "Hey Ryoga?" he asked, dodging a thrown bandanna. "Wanna know something?"

"No!" Ryoga shouted.

"Well I'm gonna tell you anyway." He said, dodging another umbrella thrust. "The reason I'm out here is to get a honeymoon gift for Akane."

Ryoga stopped in mid swing. "What?" he growled.

Ranma put his hands behind his head and smiled nonchalantly. "Yep. She and I are gonna consummate our marriage when I get back." He paused and waited for the familiar feel of the heavy ki welling up in his rival. One more push… "Not only that but Akari asked me to get something for HER too."

Ryogas aura became the sickly green color that signaled the start of his ultimate technique. He looked up weakly at Ranma with despondent eyes. "You'll never take Akari from me, you fiend." He snarled. Death Shroud felt the energy build up and wisely decided to turn tail and run, hoping that he could get out in time.

'Too much?' Ranma wondered, and Ryoga shot the massive green ball of ki into the ceiling above him. Ranma felt the structure shudder as it ripped upward through three hundred feed of earth before reversing course and heading back down toward the lost boy. 'Yep.' "Uh, Ryoga…I was just messin' with ya."

Ryogas eyes widened as he realized what was happening a split second before the energy collapsed on the two boys, along with the rest of the building.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

'Ranma?' Bright asked, concern lacing her voice. 'Are you well?'

Ranma opened her eyes and sat up, wincing as her back popped. "Yeah, I'm fine," She said, noting her female state. She looked around at the ruined building which was, amazingly, still in one piece. It was simply, deeper in the ground than the engineers intended. "I guess Ryogas blast didn't reach the building." She noted.

Bright sighed in relief, glad that her friend was ok. She had been worried that Ranma wouldn't survive the building collapse or the blast that carried her up through the street to deposit her on a nearby roof. She may have been resting but she was still able to see hear and feel everything during the fights. 'No, the blast simply destroyed the earth between the Crey facility and the building above it, dropping the building on everything beneath it. I think its safe to say that the facility has been…taken out?'

Ranma laughed and stood up popping her neck in the process. She hopped off the roof and went to retrieve her back pack, putting the disk from her pocket into it. 'What about, your friend, Ryoga?' Bright asked.

"He'll be ok. The two of us have taken worse than that." Ranma responded nonchalantly.

'Worse than that!?' Bright shouted. 'What could be much worse than that?'

"Having a mountain collapse on you for one." Ranma answered. "So now what?"

Once Bright recovered from the revelation that her new pseudo host was a near god, she answered gravely. 'Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that the nictus you fought in there escaped, and will head back home.' She said. 'If you feel up to it, we should go back to Paragon City and investigate Crey head quarters there.'

Ranma nodded absentmindedly. She too had felt the Death Shrouds energy signature. "Sure," Ranma said. "I promised to follow this through to the end, and I'm a man of my word. Where is Paragon City anyway?"

'In America.' Bright responded.

"WHAT!?"

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Meanwhile, back at the destroyed Daimyo Tech building, Captain Hatsuumi, of the Shinjuku police force stared at the impossible sight of a full five story office building, with four of said stories buried in the ground. Granted, being this close to the Nerima ward and the strange stories that filtered from the city, he shouldn't have been too surprised at this. But it was his first encounter with what the Neriman locals called the, Nerima Wrecking Crew.

He nodded at the report one of his officers gave confirming an all clear for the building. I seemed that no one was hurt in the collapse, thankfully enough, but it was still weird and it caused him to shiver.

No, on second thought…the ground was shaking.

Ryoga burst from the street directly below the good captain, sending the older man sprawling. Being the well trained police force that they are, the cops all leveled their fire arms at the lost boy.

Ryoga looked around at all the guns pointed at him. There could be only one reason for this. "Ranma!" he shouted. "This is all YOUR fault!"


	3. Chapter 3

Once again, please reference www(dot)paragonwiki(dot)com (stupid eating my links.)

Ranma sat in uncomfortable plastic seat in Tokyo International Airport, glaring at a sheet of paper like it was a rival martial artist that had bested him. He brandished the pen in his right hand like a sword and pointed it threateningly at the sheet as if that action would scare the paper into writing on itself. 'Dammit!' he swore mentally. 'I'm just no good at writing letters. I don't know what to write.'

'Just write what ever happens to pop into your mind,' Bright responded, doing her best to boost Ranma's confidence. 'Tell them how you feel, what you're doing, how much you miss them.' She added, sensing that Ranma was thinking of Akane.

Ranma thought for a brief moment before starting the letter.

"Dear, Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi, Pops and Mr. Tendo." The letter started. He purposely left his mother out seeing has he had called her earlier that day. She missed him fiercely but understood that Ranma was a man, and had to take care of his business. Strangely enough, she had seemed excited that Ranma was leaving for America to take care of said business.

Ranma continued the letter. "How are you all? I'm doin' fine." He paused, thinking of where to go next. "I'm sure you've already heard of the building collapse in Shinjuku. Ryoga and I did that while we were trying to take out an evil company that was making mutants. Pretty cool huh? Like I said, things are going pretty good so far. My new technique is comin' along pretty good, too. Anyway, I won't be coming home as soon as I had hoped."

'Hey Ranma,' Bright said, pulling Ranma away from his letter. 'Take a look at this.'

Bright directed Ranma's attention to a TV monitor that was broadcasting a news report from CNN on the recent building collapse in Shinjuku. Ranma watched as a pale woman wearing a cobalt blue evening gown, and horn rimmed black glasses mounted the stage as staccato flashes marked every picture being taken.

"Who's that?" Ranma asked.

'That would be Countess Crey, the owner and co-founder of Crey Biotech.' Bright explained.

A large bald man in a black suit, stepped up to the podium, and everyone quieted down. "Ladies and gentlemen, Countess Crey."

The woman in question stepped up to the podium herself, brushing a stray lock of her raven hair from her face. "Thank you," she said, oblivious to the fact that no one was cheering or clapping. "I wish to extend my sincerest regrets to those in Tokyo who were involved or were hurt by the unfortunate building collapse that happened recently. Now to business. Crey Biotech formally denies any and all involvement in the hideous genetic experiments that were being conducted beneath the Daimyo Tech building."

Ranma mouth gaped as he continued listening to the news report.

The reporters all began clamoring to have their question answered at the same time but Lady Crey silenced them. "For the past month, supplies and personnel have been disappearing from our headquarters in Paragon City, Rhode Island. This was a most unfortunate way to find out who was stealing them and their unfortunate end…"

Ranma jumped to his feet, the paper in his lap fluttering to the floor as refused to listen to the rest of the report. "BULLshit!" he shouted, pointing to the screen, ignoring the other peoples reaction to his outburst. "It's a LIE!"

'Shush, Ranma,' Bright chided and Ranma sat down and picked his paper and pen back up with a scowl on his face.

"I can't believe they want us to believe that crap," He spat. "I mean come ON. The people in the basement were practically advertising that the worked for Crey."

Bright sighed. 'Indeed Ranma but it can't be helped. Countess Crey has proven very adept at covering up her tracks.' She explained. 'Much like the last time the Revenant project was uncovered.'

"What happened then?" Ranma asked as he scrutinized his letter again.

'A group of superheroes discovered a hidden lab in the heart of Paragon City. They took it out, in the process recovering a couple of heroes thought to be long dead. When confronted with the evidence against her, Crey made one of her rare public appearances, stating that much like this event, the equipment was stolen and the personnel were rogue ex-Crey employees.' Bright explained.

"And the public bought it." Ranma said. It wasn't a question. "Why?"

'Unfortunately, in the USA, Crey Biotech engineers a lot of medicine and technology that makes Americans life easier.' Bright said. 'It'd be like, Sony being called corrupt over here. No one wants to believe it, so they don't.'

Ranma thought for a second. "Well we're gonna take care of that." He stated simply.

Bright smiled at the boy's contagious enthusiasm. It was amazing how quickly he could cheer her up, even with out meaning too. 'That we will Ranma. That we will.'

An announcement came over the p.a. system. "Flight 302 leaving terminal two for Los Angeles International Airport will begin boarding in fifteen minutes."

The message repeated again in a multitude of different languages, including demonic and oddly enough, growfing, but Ranma ignored them, instead focusing again on his letter.

"I'm leaving for America in a bit, so I have to wrap up the letter really quick. Ill call and write once I get there. I miss you all. Even you, tomboy. Ranma. P.S. Got your note in the breakfast."

Ranma reread the letter and, finding it to his liking, ran to a nearby post box, bought a stamp and envelope, and dropped it in with the Tendo dojos address on the front. He then ran back to his pack, hefted it and moved to get in line for boarding.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

"Huh? What do you mean my Ranchan's not here?" Ukyo had Genma by the front of his gi and was shaking the dazed man roughly back and forth. "Where'd he go!?"

Genma being too dazed to respond only moaned as his brain was scrambled by Ukyo's shaking. Akane took pity on the poor man and answered for him, albeit with a decidedly Akane perspective on it. "The jerk ran away from his problems here like he usually does." She said half heartedly.

Ukyo stopped manhandling Genma long enough for him to slink off and hide from the enraged woman. Ukyo turned toward Akane with malice in her eyes. "It has to be your fault, you hussy!" she snapped.

"Who are you calling a hussy, you…hussy!" Akane retorted. "Ranma left cause he claimed he had something to take care of. Not that I care…" She added quickly.

"Speaking of Ranma," Nabiki said, returning with the days post. "We got a letter from him."

"Really?" " What's he say?"

Nabiki opened the letter and scanned the contents, her eyebrow quirking then a smile forming on her lips. "Ill let you read it for 2000 yen." She said, her smile becoming more sinister.

Akane huffed, and sat back down on her cushion. She knew that Nabiki would eventually let her read the letter, and didn't really care if she tried to extort money from her rival for Ranma's affections. She took a drink of her water but then nearly choked on it when Ukyo forked over the money to her sister and began to read the letter.

Ukyo read the letter in disbelief and dropped it in shock. "America?! I have to catch up with him!" she exclaimed running out of the house and back to her restaurant to pack.

Akane, her curiosity piqued, picked the letter up and read it out loud. "Dear, Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi, Pops and Mr. Tendo. How are you all? I'm doin' fine. I'm sure you've already heard of the building collapse in Shinjuku. Ryoga and I did that while we were trying to take out an evil company that was making mutants. Pretty cool huh? Like I said, things are going pretty good so far. My new technique is comin' along pretty good, too. Anyway, I won't be coming home as soon as I had hoped. I'm leaving for America in a bit, so I have to wrap up the letter really quick. Ill call and write once I get there. I miss you all." She nearly choked when she read the end of the letter to herself.

Even you, tomboy. Ranma. P.S. Got your note in the breakfast.

Akane blushed and looked up at Nabiki who simply smiled demurely and sat down at the table to finish her lunch. She hugged the letter to her chest and then left the table to take it to her room.

"Nice of the boy to think of us, eh Tendo?" Genma said.

"Absolutely Saotome, but….why America?"

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Ukyo came to a horrible realization almost immediately after she was packed…

"Oh no!" She exclaimed. "Ranchan didn't say WHERE in America he was going!"

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

After a horrible one hour layover in Los Angeles and the horrible realization that that the further east he traveled, the further back in time he went, Ranma finally arrived at the Theodore Francis Green State Airport. "I ain't ever flying again," Ranma groused, as he looked for a clock. He realized with horror that even after being in the air for nearly 9 hours, he had lost seventeen hours. "Never again."

'Oh it's not that bad once you get used to it,' Bright countered cheerily, happy to be back in what she considered her home state. 'Besides, once we get the hang of it, utilizing our kheldian energy, you can actually fly on your own power.'

As Ranma pondered the implications of time travel, nearly frying his mind in the process, he left the airport and converted his yen to dollars and walked outside to where a convoy of taxi cabs were waiting for potential customers. He hopped in the back of one of the cars. "Where to, buddy." The gruff man said.

'Where exactly are we going?' Ranma quickly asked Bright.

'City hall in Paragon City.'

Ranma repeated the instructions to the cabbie and blinked as the gruff mans face paled and his eyes dilated. "Something wrong?" Ranma asked.

The man shook himself out of his stupor and adjusted his pork pie hat. "I thought something looked off about ya," he growled. "Just don't try anything funny back there."

'Eh? What's his problem?' Ranma asked Bright.

Bright sighed mentally. 'I forgot to tell you Ranma, but Paragon City has the biggest population of super powered beings per capita of any place on the planet sans the Rogue Isles.' She explained. 'Some people don't take too kindly to supers.'

'What made him think I'm a…super?'

'There are very few people that have reason to visit city hall if they don't have super powers.' Bright said. 'Though, from what I've witnessed you do, I would be willing to call you a super.'

Ranma fell silent as he processed that information. With that many people having super powers he might just fit in. Then again… 'How many people exactly?'

'Id say, out of a population of about one million people, approximately ten thousand have powers of some sort, including the outcasts.'

Something dawned on Ranma. 'Wait a second…was I speaking English!?'

Bright smiled. 'Indeed you were Ranma.'

'HOW!?'

Bright giggled girlishly. 'While you slept for the past two nights, do you recall having any dreams in languages you don't know?' she asked.

'Yeeeeah…' Ranma answered cautiously.

'That was me implanting the knowledge of languages I know in your mind.' Bright responded, almost deliriously happy.

'That would explain my dream in Latin last night.'

They traveled in silence for a while, the cabbie glancing suspiciously at the quiet boy in the back seat. 'Hey Bright?,' Ranma asked after a while. 'You mentioned meeting up with someone when we got there. Who?'

'She goes by the name of Moonray, and she's a young warshade; a kheldian fusion much like Crimson Sun was.' Bright said, with a brief wave of sadness when she mentioned Sun. 'Once we get settled, Ill tell you how to contact her and schedule a meeting.'

'Great,' Ranma thought. 'Another alien. Just how strange can this get?'

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

The cab screeched to a halt in the Atlas Park district of Paragon City. Ranma got out of the car, bringing his pack with him and stared slack jawed at the sight before him; a truly massive stone statue, easily thirty stories or more in height. The statue was of a masked man clad in tights, holding a stone globe the size of himself on his back, and hunched over with its weight.

"Whoa…" Ranma breathed as he stared up at the impressive sight. He started walking toward the building behind the statue, assuming that it was their first destination.

'That would be Atlas,' Bright answered to Ranma's unspoken question. 'One of the greatest heroes Paragon City has ever seen.'

"What'd he do to get such a huge statue?" Ranma asked.

'He gave his life when he single handedly stopped a nazi incursion into Paragon.' Bright explained. 'This entire district was named after him and a statue built in his honor.'

"Wow." 'Now that's a hero.' Ranma thought silently.

As he walked, his eyes were drawn to a young woman standing on a pedestal in the shadow of the monolithic statue.

She was average height, but she was obviously one of the heroes that Bright had mentioned before, judging by her build and posture. She was wearing a skin tight, long sleeved blue mini dress that faded to red as it went to her shoulders that hugged her lithe figure, and flared white gloves and boots. Her blond hair fell in waves to her waist. She had blue eyes that sparkled behind a red face mask as she pointed something out to the two heroes she was assisting. The two young men headed in the direction the woman pointed as Ranma approached.

"Scuse me." He said pointing to the building behind the statue. "Is that the city hall building."

"Yes it is." The woman responded, giving Ranma the once over. "You're new here, huh?"

Ranma blinked at the woman as she looked him over. "Uh, yeah. How'd ya know?"

"You look like a traveler." She said simply. "By the way, names Ms. Liberty." She added with a smile, holding her hand out.

Ranma took the proffered hand and shook it, marveling at the strength of the woman's grip. It bordered on painful. "I'm Ranma Saotome."

"I guess you're not a new hero then." Ms. Liberty said. Ranma shook his head. "Ok then. Go in the front doors of the building and make a left. There will be an office called, 'Visitor Registration'. That's your first stop."

"Hey thanks!" Ranma said as he continued around the statue to the building.

Ms. Liberty watched the Japanese youth enter city hall and wondered as she looked at her hand and flexed her fingers. 'He had a really strong grip.' She thought. 'If he's not a hero, then why is he here?'

Ranma meanwhile, found the office and approached the front counter. "Scuse me," he said, waiting until the homely looking woman sitting at the counter noticed him. When she looked up from her paperwork he smiled nervously. "I was told I needed to fill out some forms or somethin' since I'm visiting here."

The woman opened her file cabinet and pulled out a sheet of paper then handed it to Ranma. "Fill that out to the best of your ability," She droned in a nasally voice. "Give it back to me when you're done."

Ranma took the sheet and sat down in the waiting area with a pen and put the sheet on a convenient table. He paused as he scanned the sheet up and down. Then it hit him. He would understand and speak English, but couldn't read it. A drop of sweat rolled down his forehead. 'Uh, Bright…'

Bright simply sighed and told Ranma what and how to write and where to write it. Ranma did as Bright said and after a few minutes, he had finished filling out form and he returned it to the secretary. The woman scanned the paper to make sure everything was filled out correctly, occasionally squinting at Ranma's horrible penmanship, and paused when she came to the line stating where he was going to stay. "Are you sure you have this address correct young man?"

"Pretty sure," Ranma answered. "Whys that?"

The woman started at Ranma's oblivious expression for a moment then just shook her head. Yet another hero, here to save the day, she mused. "Nothing at all. You'll find out when you get there." She said, quickly typing something into her computer. "Your next stop should be hero registration if you haven't already been there. It's in the main lobby just opposite the entrance."

"Hero registration?" Ranma asked "But…" he stopped when he realized that the woman was ignoring him in favor of a stack of files.

Ranma shrugged and left back the way he came. "Why do I hafta register as a hero anyway?" He asked Bright. "I aint one, and I don't wanna be one."

'It's a matter of necessity,' Bright said in response. 'With this many super powered beings running around, they need to keep tabs on them, especially if they turn evil.'

"But I'm not super powered!" he denied vehemently. In his opinion, he was simply a martial artist, albeit the best.

'Compared to the average citizen here you are,' Bright said.

Ranma nodded in understanding but he still didn't want to be a hero. "I already filled out that visitor thing." He said. "It's not like I snuck here. 'Cides, if there's anything I learned from Nabiki, its, information is power." He paused, his face adopting a dark look. "And letting people keep tabs on me is more power than I wanna give 'em."

Ranma stepped out onto the polished black marble floor of the lobby and glanced over at the counter that read 'New Hero Registration.' Bright sighed. 'Very well then, Ranma. Just, try to keep your displays to a minimum.' She said. 'The last things we need are both Crey and the local hero populace after us.'

"Ok, Ill try and keep things simple when I can." Ranma agreed. "Where to next?"

'We need to go to the university in the Gimry Ridge neighborhood of Steel Canyon,' Bright told him. 'Just go north for about a kilometer or so and you'll come to the tunnel to Steel Canyon.'

A short trip across the district brought Ranma yet another pause. Standing in front of him were two teenage punks dressed in red and black with a demonic motif on their shirts. One was trying to tug a purse from a woman's grip while the other one cheered the first on. What Ranma was witnessing was an honest to goodness mugging.

In a way, Nerima was one of the most peaceful wards in Tokyo, right up there with the Juuban ward. Granted, with as many martial artists that made it their home as well as the Nerima Wrecking Crew, Nerima wasn't peaceful in the traditional sense, but in the sense that there was little to no crime. Criminals were simply too terrified to try and break the laws in the ward for fear that they would get caught up in a stray martial arts fight and end up hospitalized and eating through a straw.

This being said, Ranma had never experienced a real crime in progress, and he was a bit put off by it. He glanced around, looking for any of the so called heroes that Bright claimed could be found everywhere but all he witnessed were people turning a blind eye or fleeing in panic from the scene. No one was doing anything but ignoring the woman's pleas for help.

'Perhaps…'Bright started hesitantly. 'Perhaps we should help her. Just don't do anything flashy, Ranma.'

His resolve set, despite Bright's earlier warning, Ranma stepped forward to challenge the gang members. "Hey!" he shouted, his trademark smirk adorning his face. "Why don't ya pick on someone who can fight back?"

The teen wrestling with the woman let go of the purse and turned toward the challenge, his friend wearing a look of disbelief on his face. "Looky here. A new cape thinks he can stop the hellions." The purse snatcher said. His partner laughed at that like it were the funniest joke in the world. "How 'bout we teach him a lesson?"

"Yeah, yeah!" the other said, pulling a pipe from somewhere. The purse snatcher pulled out a bowie knife.

Ranma closed his eyes and shook his head. These punks could probably be beaten by the hentai squad back home, so this should be quick and easy. "Your move then," he said, adopting the standard anything goes stance. That is, feet together, hands behind his back and a look of complete indifference.

The hellion with the pipe rushed forward with a yell and swung, but Ranma just leaned out of the way and kicked the boy's feet out from under him. The hellion tumbled to the concrete in a heap behind Ranma. The other punk tried the same tactic, but with his knife swinging. Ranma grabbed the hellion's knife hand, and twisted his arm behind his back, then proceeded to grab the boy in a head lock, which he held till the hellion blacked out. Ranma let him fall ungracefully to the sidewalk.

The other boy regained his feet and charged Ranma again, "You bastard!" he shouted, swinging his pipe like a bat.

In a flash, Ranma had disarmed the gangster and simply brained him with the pipe. He watched as the hellion crumpled to the pavement like a sack of potatoes. After checking that they were down for the count, he turned to the young woman who had been assaulted. He stopped though, when he looked at her face. She was staring up at him with wide shimmering eyes and clutching her purse in front of her. "Are you okay?" he asked nervously. He recognized that look from back home.

"So cool…" the woman said wistfully a she slowly approached her savior. "I can't wait to tell my friends about this."

Ranma backed away. 'I didn't do anything flashy though!' he told Bright. 'What should I do?'

'Tell her to call the police.'

"Maybe you should call the cops," Ranma said trying to ward the woman, who was now all but snuggling against him. "Ya know…take care of them." He added, pointing at the bodies of the hellions.

It seemed to work, and with a cry of, "Right!" the woman pulled her cell phone from her purse and dialed 911. Ranma took the opportunity to sneak away, not stopping till he came to the tunnel to Steel Canyon. When he got there, he stopped and stared at yet another amazing sight. The tunnel to the next district was built into a massive concrete wall that had an energy barrier on top of it. Ranma craned his neck to look at the top of the energy wall and gaped as it vanished into the clouds.

"What the hell is this for?" he asked. His mind went into over drive, imagining Godzilla pound on the blue energy walls.

Bright couldn't help but laugh at the mental images her host was conjuring up. 'No Ranma, there are not giant monsters that big here.' She said with a giggle. 'The walls are a left over relic from world war two. When the fifth column, a nazi regime, attempted to invade, the city council had these walls build to create safe zones within the city. Since then, they have been upgraded with teleport beacons that will transport anyone who has been injured to the closest hospital, but only if they have a responder beacon on them.'

As Ranma mulled over this new information, his face fell. "But, I don't have a responder thingy." He said.

'That's why you should have registered as a hero. They get theirs for free.' Bright chided. 'Don't worry though. Sun had an extra one at her apartment that I'm sure you can use.'

Ranma's mood lifted, glad that he wouldn't have to register as a hero. "Awesome. Well then, let's go meet this Moonray chick."

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Paragon City University wasn't a big school, but it was rather prestigious and as such had many students. They went about their business, coming to, and leaving class, most of them rather used to the sight of tights clad, cape wearing people literally flew through the entrance doors.

Ranma, however, while used to weirdness on a grand scale, still found it rather unnerving that there were people that could fly. Sure, he had fought and beaten Herb, but he was a half dragon and not exactly human. Then again he did have an alien now inhabiting his mind. Ranma looked up, silently enjoying his new hobby of people watching and glanced over at a bubble headed cheerleader, who was passing out flyers for her sorority. She seemed to be blissfully unaware as she greeted her fellow students. Ranma watched as a super heroine stepped out of the university, and sped away at a blistering speed. Ranma was impressed, even though the woman didn't have near the ki that even Akane had. Something bothered him though. "I didn't think super heroes needed to go to school." He said.

'Most of them don't.' Bright said. 'The university offers a class on inventing that most heroes find rather useful in augmenting their powers.'

Ranma fell silent again, watching people for a while before glancing up at the clock tower that graced the top of the school. Moonray was supposed to meet them here at three p.m. It was almost four. "She's late." Ranma noted, looking up at the sky that threatened rain.

'Indeed,' Bright said. 'I'm beginning to worry about her.'

"Think we should go look?" Ranma asked. He felt appreciation radiate from Bright at his concern.

'Please do, Ranma,' Bright said, worry lacing her voice. 'Moonray is a young warshade and I fear she may have gotten into trouble.'

"You said she was a warshade," Ranma said as he stood from the bench he was sitting on. "You mentioned that they were kheldian thingy's too. How are they any different."

Bright knew that this question would come eventually, and truth be told, she was a bit afraid to answer it. She was unsure of how her vessel would react to the news that warshades were redeemed nictus who had taken a willing host. She feared that after Ranma's devastating fight with Death Shroud, he would be against meeting Moonray, especially considering what she knew of Ranma's 'honor'. 'Warshades are…nictus," she started. Ranma paused, feeling a little uncertain. Bright winced, adding quickly, "But they have redeemed themselves and bonded with a willing host to make up for their past misdeeds."

Ranma relaxed at that. He understood the desire to redeem one's self for any mistakes and make good any wrong doing that you had committed in the past. It's what he had tried to do with Ukyo, even though it had backfired horribly. "Nictus huh?" he asked. Bright nodded hesitantly in his mind. "Well I think I remember what that freaks energy in the lab feels like. I should be able to feel where she is so we can find her faster."

Bright sighed in relief, glad that Ranma felt no animosity toward Moonray. 'I believe that I can feel around for Moonray's energy as well.' She said.

Together, the two of them began to feel the surroundings for any sign of the girl. Ranma realized that Bright's initial estimate of ten thousand of a million people with super powers was a gross understatement. There were large bodies of ki all around him. His senses brushed across a familiar feeling, dark yet, not as malevolent as he remembered. And it was fluctuating rapidly, like it was in danger. "Found her!" Ranma exclaimed, his eyes snapping open and looking north. "She's about a mile north of here and she's in trouble."

'What!?' Bright shouted, forgetting her initial doubt. 'Hurry! Go help!'

"Hold on tight," Ranma said, vaulting to the top of the university, forgetting that Bright was in his head. He jumped from roof to roof with blinding speed, ignoring the rain that fell as the sky opened up. Ranma felt the change wash over her as she chased the pulsing nictus energy signature. Landing lightly on a lower roof, Ranma gaped disbelievingly at the scene below her. 'Is this city BROKEN?' she thought disbelievingly. Three men with strange colored skin; one with blue one with orange and one with violet skin respectively, were beating on a girl about her age as she futiley threw blasts of familiar purple energy. Her purple and black body suit was ripped in places and her sleeveless, rain drenched army jacket hung loosely from her shoulders.

The man with violet skin stepped aside as the girl, who Ranma guessed was Moonray, fired another blast of energy from her outstretched hand. He grabbed a handful of her dirty blonde hair in an electrically charged fist, and pulled back, forcing her to look up at him. "Didn't we beat enough sense into you last time you were here bitch?" he snarled.

The purple energy faded from Moonray's green eyes to be replaced with a look of terror as she realized she was out of energy. She squeezed her eyes shut fearfully and shrieked as the man pulled her to her feet by her hair. "Please…" she begged.

"This time were gonna teach you a lesson you wont soon forget," he said with a lecherous grin.

'Moonray!' Bright shrieked in Ranma's mind. 'Save her!'

Ranma had seen enough and she jumped easily from the roof of the four story building she was on. It was a martial artist's duty to help those that were in need, she reminded herself as she unconsciously activated her battle aura, this time mixed with kheldian energy. She landed lightly on the street amidst a crowd of onlookers who scattered and ran at her presence. "Let the girl go," Ranma snarled as she stepped forward, her own emotions matching the rage that Bright was exuding. Excess kheldian energy began to leak from her eyes and her hair went wild with the battle aura. "Or I'm gonna beat you till you wished you were dead."

The three men stopped what they were doing and stared at the glowing red head. The purple skinned man sneered and pulled a petrified Moonray in front of him like a living shield. "Heh," he said into her ear. "Thinking that help will save you? Match! Freezer! Let's include red in our lesson!"

When Moonray opened her eyes, hope filled her. Her best friend had returned. "Crimson…" she whispered, confident that her friend would save her.

"Right boss!" The two other men said enthusiastically as they took up positions on either side of Ranma. Match's hands lit up in contrast to Freezers becoming encased in ice and he threw a small blob of fire at the girl.

Ranma wasted no time as she blurred to her right, flowing around the fire ball, and grabbing the orange mans, throat then bringing her knee to his chest three times in rapid succession. She then brought an elbow down on the slumped mans neck, sending him crashing into the street and cracking the pavement. The whole attack took less than two seconds.

Ranma then turned to the other man, Freezer who was standing there with an expression of shock on his face, favoring him with a withering glare. She didn't give him time to recover as she leaped over to him with a hammer blow that bounced him off of the asphalt and high enough that she could uppercut him even higher. Ranma followed him into the air and grabbing hold of his shirt, hurled him bodily into Match who was staggering to his feet. Both men ended up in an unconscious heap on the sidewalk.

Ranma then turned back to the violet skinned man, who looked worried. His panicked look was replaced by a sinister one as he put a crackling hand to Moonray's throat. "Think you can mess with the outcasts and get away with it, bitch?" he spat. "One step closer and this girl's blood will be on both our hands."

"Hurt her and we'll kill you," Ranma growled, her eyes flashing dangerously, as Bright's emotions over whelmed her.

The mans eyes flashed in response and he threw Moonray roughly to the side to land in a heap. "NO ONE threatens Shocker like that!" he shouted, lifting into the air. "I'm going to enjoy killing you!"

Once Moonray was clear, Ranma spared no time jumping up after the loudmouth freak, smirking all the while. It wasn't his fault that Ranma was a master of the aerial style of Anything Goes. As she neared, Ranma's fists glowed with kheldian energy, and the lashed out with an aerial combo that brought Shocker back to the ground with a crunch. She then followed it up with nasty kheldian powered uppercut to the mans jaw that sent him sprawling.

Shocker got to his feet and noticed that his underlings had already recovered and fled. "Don't think that this is over, Red." He snarled as he flew straight up and away to the south.

Ranma shook her head clear of Bright's emotions and let her aura dissipate as she ran up to the beaten warshade. "Hey, are you ok?" Ranma asked, looking at the other girl. Moonray's eyes shimmered briefly before she grabbed hold of Ranma and began to sob in the other girls buxom. "He-hey.." Ranma protested weakly.

"I was so scared!" Moonray wailed, ignoring the rain pouring down on the both of them. "I thought they were gonna do something horrible to me, Crimson."

Ranma put her hands on the other girl's shoulders and pushed her away gently. "I'm not Crimson Sun." Ranma said and Moonray's eyes registered confusion. Ranma sighed, helping the girl to her feet. "Lets get you somewhere safe and dry, and Ill explain everything."

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

The young warshade known as Moonray looked up at her red headed savior with tears running down her face. After being rescued from her mutant aggressors, the two of them had returned to Moonray's apartment so Ranma could explain a few things. First and foremost, that the redhead wasn't Crimson Sun and that Crimson Sun was actually dead. She still couldn't wrap her head around that fact, seeing as her savior, who had introduced her self as Ranma Saotome, was the mirror image of her best friend. "But…but, then how are you bonded with Bright?" Moonray choked out through her sobs.

Ranma looked down at the beige carpeting beneath her feet in shame. "I tried ta save her, but I didn't get there in time." She said quietly. "She passed Bright on ta me right before she died."

Moonray favored Ranma with a slight smile before her sobs overwhelmed her again. She was happy that, Bright hadn't died; she was much too important, but the loss of her friend was devastating. The two of them had been best friends since childhood and they had even bonded to their kheldians together. She felt Ranma's arms slip hesitantly around her shoulders and leaned into the redheads embrace.

Ranma's pigtail stood on end as her attempt to comfort the distraught girl backfired on her, and the blonde deepened the contact. "H-hey. Why don't you go get changed outta those wet tights," She said with a blush. "I need to go get my pack from the university then Ill come right back."

Moonray squeezed tighter and with a shuddering sigh as she got her emotions under control, pulled away, wiping the tears from eyes with a weak smile. "Ok, Ranma," She said with a matching blush, realizing how close they had been.

Ranma opened the door and paused in the doorway. "When I get back, Ill explain everything."

Moonray watched Ranma close the door behind her before getting up from her chair. Once she had calmed down, she noted slight differences between Crimson and Ranma, namely their height and build. Ranma was shorter and fuller in the chest than Crimson had been, but under duress she hadn't immediately noticed. Moonray walked to the bathroom in her small apartment, shutting the door behind her. Peeling off her outfit, she started the shower and stepped into the warm stream of water, letting it relax and warm her.

Finishing with her shower, Moonray toweled off quickly and wrapped herself in a white terry cloth robe, before stepping back out in to her living room.

"Feel better?"

"EEK!" Moonray squeaked, startled, and whirled around toward the kitchen her robe opening slightly, revealing her nakedness beneath. She calmed down when she noticed Ranma standing there with a slight blush coloring her cheeks. "Oh you're back. That didn't take you long." She said quietly.

"Um…your robe." Ranma said lamely, averting her eyes. Moonray eek'd again and hurriedly closed the robe, this time cinching it shut tightly.

Moonray silently wondered why Ranma was blushing at a bit of feminine skin. They were both girls right? "Why are you blushing Ranma," She asked, voicing her thoughts. "We're both girls aren't we?"

'It would be best to tell her now,' Bright said sagely.

Ranma laughed nervously and scratched her pigtail. "Um, yeah. 'Bout that. I have this…problem." She turned toward the kitchen sink and filled her thermos with hot water. Sparing an apologetic glance toward the confused looking girl, Ranma upended the contents over her head, becoming a him again. "Uh, Moonray?"

Moonray's pupils had dilated, and her body went slack, her hair standing on end. Her mind went into overdrive however. Now it all made sense, all the similarities to Crimson Sun, Bright's unique energy signature. The new powers and abilities and amazing combat prowess. Nothing else made sense as to why the petite, pretty red headed girl she met had just become a dashing, handsome boy. "BODYSNATCHER!" she shrieked, leveling an accusing finger at Ranma as her nictus energies flared up.

Ranma's hands shot up in a warding gesture. He could feel the righteous feminine wrath radiating off of Moonray in waves, just like Akane. "No, no!" he shouted, backing into a corner in the kitchen as an enraged warshade advanced on him. "Ya got it all wrong! It's a curse! A CURSE!" He had expected, confusion, even revulsion at his curse, but not fury.

Moonray let the nictus energy dissipate in her confusion. She had expected a body snatcher to mutate and attack her or something when it was found out, not cower in fear and claim to have a curse. She walked up to the cowering teen and crouched down next to him, poking him with a curious finger. "You're not a body snatcher?" she asked cautiously.

Ranma opened his eyes at the poke. "Nope!" he said with relief. "Just a curse. Cold water, girl. Hot water, boy."

Moonray blinked as she pondered this. Living and working in the city of heroes, she was used to strange things, but this took the cake. She stood up and walked to the kitchen sink, filling a glass with cold water. Turning back toward, Ranma, she splashed the boy and boggled as he changed back to a busty redheaded girl. "That is just too weird." She said.

"Thanks…" Ranma spluttered, wiping the excess water from her face as she stood up. "Mind if I go take a shower?" She asked. "I'd like to get cleaned up."

Moonray just nodded dumbly and pointed down the hall, toward the bathroom. Ranma grabbed a change of clothes, a blue sleeveless Chinese shirt and black pants as well as a change of underwear from her pack and walked down the hall into the bathroom. Moonray stared at Ranma's retreating form and tried to figure out her curse, but nothing made sense. She was no stranger to magic, seeing as she had fought members of the circle of thorns on numerous occasions, but they used nothing like what she had seen a few minutes ago. As far as she or her nictus memories could tell, there was no such thing as gender bending magic curses, yet evidence to the contrary had just walked into the bathroom. "Why is it so hard to believe that she turns into a cute boy?"

She blushed, realizing what she just said. Granted, Ranma did act rather masculine, but she was a girl right? She found it easier to believe that the boy form was the curse rather than the opposite. But then again, she had never heard of naturally red haired Asians.

She was bumped out of her reverie by the sound of the bathroom opening. A male Ranma stepped out, toweling his hair dry. "Are you a boy or a girl?" Moonray blurted before she could stop herself.

Ranma, expecting the question, answered simply. "Boy. The girl half is the curse, but I've gotten used to it." He said with a smirk, answering the next question he was sure was coming.

"Oh," Moonray said lamely, getting lost in Ranma's piercing blue eyes. She stood up abruptly, startling Ranma when she bowed deeply. "I never did thank you properly for saving me." She said with a blush.

Ranma rubbed his neck and looked away from the great view of cleavage that Moonray presented. "Not a problem." He said. "Me and Bright were getting worried, ya know?"

Moonray stood up and blinked. Him and Bright? "Didn't you merge with her?" she asked.

Ranma shook his head. "Nah, she's just using me for my body." He said, feeling Bright become flustered. Ranma choked, realizing what he said. "Er, I mean…as a temporary host till she can find a willing one."

'Using you for your body?' Bright huffed. 'I never…'

"But then how…?" Moonray trailed off, nothing in her nictus memories letting her know how a vessel could use kheldian powers without a complete merge.

Ranma abruptly changed the subject. "Got a computer." He asked. Bright nodded and pointed toward her room. Ranma went over to his pack and retrieved a black floppy disk. "Lets get to work." He said with a grin. "Ill explain everything."


	4. Chapter 4

Yet again, www(dot)paragonwiki(dot)com for any term you don't know.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Ranma and his new friend, a warshade by the name of Moonray, sat in front of a computer monitor reviewing information that Ranma brought with him when he left Japan. Moonray nodded while she read the document on the screen, her brow furrowing as she progressed down the page. "This confirms it," She said finally, looking over at Ranma who had a slightly glazed expression on his face. Moonray noticed and poked Ranma in the forehead. "Ranma?"

Ranma snapped out of his stupor and fell out of his chair, eliciting a giggle from his companion. "What?" he said, picking himself up from the floor. Hearing Moonray's giggles, he blushed. "Sorry 'bout that. I'm not very good at this kinda stuff." He flexed his arm, causing Moonray to blush too. "Better at the fighting part of it."

Bright sighed from Ranma's mind. 'You really should be keeping better track of it, especially if you are going to be doing the fighting,' She chided the martial artist. 'The better informed you are, the better you can protect Moonray.'

"Yeah, yeah," Ranma waved her off, causing a confused expression to cover the other girls face. Ranma noticed and pointed at his head, "Bright."

"Ah." Moonray said. She still found it hard to believe that Ranma and Bright had accomplished a kheldian fusion without actually merging. She had listened in apt wonder as Ranma explained how Bright was converting his ki, or spirit energy, into kheldian energy that he could use to power peacebringer attack as well as infusing it into his normal attacks to devastating effect.

Ranma had explained that, while it worked, it wasn't without its flaws seeing as he couldn't fly like a peacebringer and how whenever Bright became overly emotional, those emotions were prone to overwhelm him. The advantages however, outweighed the drawbacks, and Ranma was happy to have Bright lend him her power while he helped out.

"Anyway, like I was saying," Moonray continued. "The information I gathered while Crimson was away…" she paused to compose herself, remembering her deceased friend. "It coincides with what you managed to gather when you took out that lab in Japan. Crey are working with the nictus to create eighth generation protectors with kheldian powers."

Moonray sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose to dispel the onrush of a headache. "It's bad enough that the council wants to destroy us but now Crey…?"

"Council?" Ranma asked, completely in the dark. He had been in Paragon City for less than a day now, and still didn't know much about what went on there.

"A branch of the fifth column," Moonray explained. "They broke off and managed to get a better foothold here. Been a pain in the butt ever since."

Ranma nodded, mentally filing that information away for later use. "What about that data you gathered?" he asked.

Moonray brightened up a bit as she turned back to her computer. Striking a few keys, she brought up a chart that showed heat signatures taken by a satellite imager. "These images show recent activity in what was a former Crey lab in Baumton." She explained, using her slender finger to trace an image on the screen. "From what I've been able to tell, the machinery and power grid have been restored for some reason. I'm not sure who exactly is occupying it, but we should check it out regardless."

Ranma nodded in agreement while he listened to her intently, trying his best to memorize details. He was never the best study, but when it came to combat situations, most would be hard pressed to touch him. The rest of the morning passed with Moonray detailing her plans for the infiltration of the lab and Ranma making pointers. In the end, once it was revealed that Moonray could teleport, they decided on Ranma infiltrating and Moonray keeping watch outside. If the warshade was put off about that, she hardly seemed like it, rather see seemed more relieved that she wouldn't be in danger. The plans were agreed upon and they decided to meet at Moonray's apartment at eight o'clock the following morning. Finally, Moonray could no longer keep her curiosity in check.

"Um…you said earlier that you and Bright hadn't completely bonded," She asked. When Ranma nodded cautiously she continued. "Well…how?" The look of complete shock on her face was almost comical. "When I think back on it, nothing in Shades memories tell me that what you two did is possible…"

Ranma blinked and Bright answered an unasked question. 'Shade is almost as old as I am.' She said. 'My younger brother fell in with the wrong crowd a long time ago.'

There was a moment of silence in which Moonray assumed that Ranma was listening to Bright. Ranma started in shock and asked, "Seriously?" At Moonray's curious look he said shyly, "Bright says she thinks its 'cause of my unique…fizzy-something or another."

"Physiology?" Moonray suggested.

"Yeah, that…" Ranma confirmed. "She says she hasn't figured it out all the way though."

There was a moment of silence as Moonray pondered something, then she blushed. "Do…do you have a phone number?" she asked, her blush deepening.

Ranma ignored the waves of jealousy radiating off of his guest as he shook his head 'no'. "Oh…" Moonray said almost despondently. Then she brightened up and ran to her room. She returned with a small device, about the size of a pack of gum. It was a glossy black and had a single button in the middle of one of the faces. Moonray handed it to the martial artist with a pleased grin. "It's a two way communicator." She explained. "It only works with mine and the frequency is shielded. You can…use that to…uh…contact me if you need too."

Ranma took the sleek black piece of technology with a wordless, yet confused nod. "Anything else?" he asked. Moonray blushed shyly and shook her head with her arms clasped in front of her. "Then I'll see you tomorrow!" he finished as he left her apartment with a smile and a wave goodbye.

When the door to her apartment clicked shut, Moonray released a breath she was unaware she had been holding. As she flopped down on her comfortable couch with a contented sigh, only one thought passed through her mind. 'My god, he is adorable!'

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Ranma steadied himself as the yellow line train lurched away from the station and mulled over his morning with Moonray starting with her rescue. He frowned as one thought has crossed her mind. Even if he hadn't been the pinnacle of martial arts excellence, the punks that had attacked her shouldn't have given her that much trouble with the power that Moonray radiated. 'Hey Bright?' He asked.

'Yes Ranma?' Bright asked distractedly, jolted from her own train of thoughts.

Ranma paused, thinking of the correct way to word his next question. He knew by now that calling a woman weak, even in passing and even if it was only implied was a Very Bad Thing™. 'You said Moonray was a kheldian host too, right?' he asked. 'Who trained her?'

Bright sighed nearly audibly and Ranma felt a little regret from her. 'To tell you the truth, no one.' Ranma was shocked to say the least.

'But I thought you said she and Crimson were friends.' He said. 'You mentioned something about them becoming kheldian's together.'

Bright nodded. 'They did, but Moonray has always been more cerebral than Crimson.' She said. 'Moonray always did the brain work and Crimson would go in and do the smashing, even before their merge.'

Ranma thought for a second. 'That would explain why she was having trouble with those punks.' He mused. After a moment of pause he added, 'Do ya think she'd mind me training her?'

A huge wave of gratitude surged from his guest and he missed the underlying current of jealousy. 'That would be a wonderful idea, Ranma!' she gushed. Then she added with a little more reluctance, 'After we find a host for me, it would be nice if she didn't have to worry about protection.'

Ranma absentmindedly nodded and went back to his thoughts already putting together a way of training the slight blonde girl. He was shaken from his reverie however when he felt a slight touch on his knee. Starting, he looked up into a pair of wide brown eyes. Ranma blinked a few times before he realized that he was face to face with a small boy. "Uh…" he said smartly.

The child blinked owlishly at Ranma and held up newspaper and a pen. Ranma stared at the picture on the page; a grainy black and white photo of him dispatching the two hellion punks in Atlas Park. "Momma says you're a hero. Can I have your autograph?"

Ranma heard Bright snicker in the back of his mind as he looked up and spied who he thought was the boys mother. She was looking at him with a rather hopeful expression on her face. "We meet so few heroes," she explained.

Ranma sighed and took the proffered pen from the boy and scribbled the kanji for 'Ranma' under the picture. The boy's happy squeal as he ran back to his mother mirrored the brakes of the train as it slid into the Talos Island Station. He couldn't help but smile at the woman's bemused and grateful expression as he stood up and exited the train car. As the train began to leave the station, he sighed. It would be harder to keep out of the spotlight than he thought.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Ranma walked toward the address Bright had given him with his hands in his pockets as he listened to the alien lecture him on the history of the island. 'In the 1950's and 1960' this area was protected by a gargantuan hero called Talos.' She said. 'One day, while fighting his arch nemesis, the Chimera, the two of them tore a rift in the bedrock under the waters of the bay and unfortunately, Talos didn't surface. The magma that rose hardened into this island, and the citizens of the city decided to name it after the hero.'

Truth be told, Ranma couldn't care less about the history of the city. He was focused on his mission, and when Ranma Saotome was focused on something neither hell nor high water could dissuade him. He knew that as soon as he finished things here, he could get back to Japan and take care of the situation there. The sooner the better. Things weren't going well here though. He had tried to fly low, get in, get done, and get out. But as always, karma, or fate or whatever you wanted to call it decided to make his life miserable. The press now knew of him, and he recognized the look Moonray gave him from the girls back home. He wondered idly what else this freak city would throw at him. He should have known better.

'Are you alright, Ranma?' Bright asked when she realized that her host was lost in his own little world.

'Huh?' Ranma asked, startled. 'I'm…ok. Just thinkin'' he supplied.

Being in Ranma's subconscious allowed Bright a very insightful look into the young mans psyche. She knew that something was bothering him. 'Are you sure? I am a great listener.'

'Yeah,' Ranma said. 'I'm sure. Thanks for askin' though.' He felt the worry and concern Bright felt for him but she was part of the problem. He was uncomfortable with having anything close to him, let alone part of him. Still, he had promised and Ranma was a man of his word. Realizing that he had arrived at his destination, Ranma surveyed the building in front of him. While there was nothing wrong with the building itself, it was the people gathered in and around it that were questionable. Where as none of them was quite similar to any other, they all wore camouflage pants, torn sleeveless jackets, a red bandanna around their heads, and were heavily tattooed. However they ALL wore the same nasty expression as Ranma approached the building, and they ALL carried melee weapons in one form or the other.

'You sure this is the place?' he asked Bright, double checking the cross streets. He found it hard to believe that someone would choose to live in a place that seemed to be ruled by a gang.

Bright was speechless for a moment. 'It…it wasn't like this when we left…' she said lamely. 'What happened?'

Ranma decided to find out what was going on and he hefted his pack and walked toward the building. He ignored the racial slurs and insults that most of the gang threw his way, but it wasn't lost on him that the ones carrying the swords, maces and axes seemed to be more disciplined. As he entered the lobby, all conversation stopped as every eye turned his way. Ranma did his best to ignore them as he worked his way to the elevator. 'Which floor?' he asked.

'Four,' Bright answered. 'Apartment 405.'

The elevator doors cut off the noise from the lobby and Ranma prepared himself for the inevitable battle. When he stepped out of the elevator, the first thing he noticed was that, much like the lobby, this floor was unusually devoid of grafiti and vandalism. There were also little to no people in the hall. He walked cautiously to the door that read '405' and finding it unlocked, opened it slowly.

Again, all conversation stopped as the gang members inside turned to look at him. "Aw man!" one of them whined. "We just took this building and already a hero shows up."

Slowly, six of the seven gang members in the room rose to their feet, pulling out various bats, knives and other medieval weapons. Ranma noted one blonde man in the back of the room with a bored expression on his face. He turned his attention back to the six other men, when one of them snarled. "We'll teach him what we do to capes that come into Warriors territory." Ranma felt the anger and rage radiate and build exponentially from his guest and needed no signal.

With that the fight was on. Ranma took his pack off and smashed it bodily into the first warrior that charged him, sending him to the floor in a heap. He blocked the sledgehammer the second swung at him and sent a sidekick to his chin removing him from the fight. The third swung his axe in a high arc, but Ranma sidestepped it and swept his feet out from under him, then punched him in the side before he landed with enough force to send him careening into another gang member. Ranma realized too late that that one was behind him and dodged the barely dodged the knife thrust that was aimed at his neck, instead it only grazed his cheek. He reflexively healed the wound with some kheldian energy and lashed out with a lightning fast back kick, roundhouse combo that flattened the poor man.

The sixth man dropped his spiked mace in shock, seeing what the young martial artist has wrought. He glanced at his leader, the man with the bored expression and noted that even the boss was sweating. Ranma rushed forward to finish the fight when the blonde man in the corner shouted, "Hold!"

Ranma stopped, his fist inches away from the panicked gang member and looked at the leader. He stood up calmly and adjusted his red bandanna. 'Maybe now I'll get a real fight.' He thought sardonically, pulling his fist away from the twitching Warriors face as turned to face his challenger.

The man, who called himself Perseus, stepped from the corner and sized up his opponent. The young asian man held himself well, he noted. He had finished off the guard with surprising ease, sustaining no injury beyond a face cut that had healed instantaneously. And with no one to help him no less. Perseus could feel the power radiating off the young martial artist and came to a decision. "We'll leave the building." He said with more calm than he felt. "But you haven't heard the last of us. Warriors! OUT!"

With groans and pops as their joints reset, the men Ranma had manhandled rose from the floor and left the room, glaring at him all the while. After a few minutes of stunned silence, Ranma realized that, while a gang, the Warriors had a bit of honor. He almost looked forward to fighting them again as he slumped down on the couch, the stress of the day catching up to him.

'Thank you Ranma.' Bright said, now radiating happiness.

'What for?' he asked. All he had done was shoo some gang members from an apartment complex.

'For liberating Crimson Suns apartment.' Bright said serenely.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

The Freedom Phalanx was a collection of the finest heroes in all of Paragon City, and as such, it didn't take long for Ranma's deed at the apartment to filter down to them. In truth, the Freedom Phalanx was the reason that the Hero Registration Program had been created. In 1937, a pro hero mayor passed the Citizen Crime Fighting Act. This act served two purposes. The first, the mayor realized that super heroes were invaluable in keeping the crime in his city under control. The second purpose was a bit shadier. As the act allowed anyone to become a super hero, it also required them to register with the Freedom Phalanx and reveal everything about themselves.

This way, should a hero ever go rogue, they could be brought to justice. Statesman, the leader of the Freedom Phalanx, had suggested that part of the act. He wanted to keep tabs on every super powered individual that came through the city he had sworn to protect. It wouldn't do to have a city like Grandville in the Rouge Isles, where thirty percent of the population was super villains.

Statesman removed his facemask in the security of his office and read the report in his hands. The report stated that a recently taken over building in Talos Island had been liberated by an unknown hero. The report gave a brief description of what he looked like but was unable to provide anything on his powers, though it did report on his movements through out Paragon city. He would have to remember to thank Manticore for his information gathering later, much to both of their discomfort.

Statesman thought back to what his granddaughter, Ms. Liberty, had told him earlier during the day about the strange teen she had met and gave directions to. It would seem the young man was here as a visitor, nothing more. Or so he claimed. It was yet another blow to his pride that his granddaughter seemed to be smitten with the young man.

He needed to see what information he could dredge up the young man that had sneaked into his city. Putting his face mask back on, he left his office, report in hand and went to the New Hero Registration counter. "Molly," he said to get the receptionists attention. "Give me all the information you can on Ranma Saotome."

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Ranma awoke stiffly, and pushed himself to a sitting position on the couch he was on. He blinked and wiped some drool from the corner of his mouth and as he looked around the apartment. Last nights events came flooding back to him and he realized that he was in Crimson Suns old apartment. He remembered sitting down on the couch then the next thing he knew, it was morning. "Jet lag sucks…" he muttered as he rubbed his eyes. Snippets of the dream he had floated to the front of his consciousness.

He remembered dreaming about Crimson Sun and Moonray before they were kheldian's. The two of them had been excited about something, and Crimson Sun had just fought something, but that's all Ranma could remember at the moment. "Hey, Bright?" he asked.

'Yes Ranma?'

"I had a dream last night about Crimson and Moonray before they had merged." He said.

If Bright had a body she would have blushed. 'I'm sorry Ranma.' She said. 'While you were sleeping I was reminiscing about when I first met and merged with Melanie. Moonray merged with Shade the same day.'

"Oh," Ranma said. "That's fine then. I thought I was goin' crazy or somethin'" Ranma paused. "Who's Melanie?"

It took a moment for Bright to recover before she answered. 'Melanie Samson was Crimson Suns civilian name.' Bright explained. 'Though once she and I merged, there was no need to use it anymore.'

"Did Melanie know martial arts?" Ranma asked, remembering another portion of his dream. She moved with almost as much grace and skill as he did.

'Melanie was a hero even before she and I merged. She was a scrapper…Martial arts and dark aura, if I remember right,' Bright said wistfully. 'She volunteered to merge with me for the greater good. When she and I merged however, she lost almost all of her skill and had to train from the ground up.'

Ranma was silently glad that he didn't merge with Bright. Losing the art would be crippling. "Do ya think Melanie would mind us being here?" he asked. "It's kinda creepy ta be squattin' in a dead girls apartment." Bright said no and Ranma continued. "What'd we come here for anyway?"

'We came for Melanie's second emergency teleport beacon.' Bright said. 'If those hoodlums haven't taken it, it should be in her top drawer in her room.'

Ranma stood up from the couch and stretched, his spine and shoulders popping loudly. He went into Crimson Suns old room and opened the top drawer. He immediately recoiled, slamming the drawer shut, and looked around for the righteous feminine wrath that was sure to descend upon him. The top drawer was full of Melanie Samson's unmentionables. "I can't dig through there!" Ranma shouted in a panic. "She'll kill me!"

Bright sighed in exasperation. 'Oh quit being such a baby Ranma.' She snapped. 'It's just her underwear!'

"But…but…" Ranma stammered. He just knew that Crimson Sun would rise as a zombie to smite him for being a pervert.

Bright had been with Ranma for long enough now that she knew which buttons to push to get what she needed. 'I can understand if you're afraid.' She said carefully. Sure enough, Ranma's reaction was predictable.

"I ain't afraid of nothin'!" Ranma shouted, puffing his chest out with pride. Taking a shuddering breath, he edged back toward the chest of drawers and reopened the top one. He rifled around amidst the panties and bras till he found what he was looking for; a small silver device about the size of a pager. Quickly pocketing it, he shut the drawer and sighed in relief.

'Now was that so hard?' Bright said with a mental smile.

"You have no idea," Ranma muttered. Walking back out to the living room, Ranma checked his pack and approached the door. He opened it and blinked. A young woman stood there, her hand raised to knock on the door.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment before the woman broke the silence. "I heard that Melanie had returned from her trip. Is she home?"

"Uh…no." Ranma said scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, I assumed that since those thugs had been driven away, that she had returned. It must have been you that chased them off." The woman's face lit up as she came to a realization. "You must be that boyfriend she was always talking about!" she said happily. "Are you a super hero too?"

Ranma's face turned red and Bright radiated amusement. "Er…no not exactly. I'm Melanie's…friend." Ranma said.

'You can tell her,' Bright said soothingly.

"Er, Miss…" he paused, not knowing the woman's name.

"You can call me Shauna," She supplied helpfully.

"Why don't you come in and have a sit," Ranma said. Shauna followed the young man into Crimsons apartment and sat on the couch, looking curiously up at him. "Geeze…where do I start. Melanie…died in Japan."

Shauna gasped as she put her hand to her lips in shock. "That's so sad!" She exclaimed, her eyes tearing up. "I didn't know her very well but she was always so protective of us here. It must be hard on you, being her boyfriend and all."

"I ain't her boyfriend," Ranma said huffily. He calmed down at Shauna's shocked expression. "I met her in Japan and kinda promised her that I'd take care of things."

Shauna nodded gravely. "I suppose that's a good thing." She said. "She was a bit of a loner besides her friend…that blonde girl. Still, she was good at protecting this building. I don't know what we would have done with out her." She leaned forward and clasped Ranma's hands. "Thanks so much Mr.…"

"Name's Ranma."

"Thank you Ranma." She let go of Ranma's hands, completely ignorant of his shocked expression and excused herself from the apartment.

"This means I have to stay," Ranma deadpanned when he recovered. "Doesn't it?"

Bright radiated happiness like never before. "I was actually going to suggest that,' She said happily. 'But since you said it yourself…'

Ranma sighed and glanced at the clock realizing that he needed to get a move on if he was going to meet Moonray on time. He pocketed the beacon and retrieved a spare key from where Bright informed him Melanie had hidden one. He then took the two way communicator and pushed the button. A little green light came on as Ranma said, "Hey Moonray? You up yet?"

There was a long pause before Moonray finally answered, slightly out of breath. "Yep!" she chirped cheerfully from the speaker on the communicator. "Um, slight change of plans though. I need you to meet me by the security gate to Baumton."

"Why?" Ranma asked. "What's up?"

"Latest imagery shows that something is happening in the facility." She replied. "We need to get there sooner than I had planned. If you meet me at the gate, we can save a few minutes."

"Ok, I'll meet ya there."

Ranma stared at the communicator as he left the apartment. "Strange girl…" he muttered.

It seemed that word traveled fast, as the apartment building was full of tenants again, all of them greeting and thanking Ranma as he left the complex. He was a little embarrassed by the praise they were showering on him and wondered if Crimson Sun got the same praise. Judging by Shauna's explanation, Crimson was a bit of a loner and tried to keep to herself. As soon as he was outside, he took to the roofs of the smaller buildings.

It wasn't long before Ranma's roof hopping took him to the yellow line train station. As he approached the gates, he cracked his knuckles. It was time to get to work.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Moonray was in trouble…again. She didn't trust her skill with her teleport power much anymore, not after she had accidentally ended up in an amorous couple's bedroom one night. No, instead, she had transformed into her squid like nova form and decided to fly to the meeting spot. That was her first mistake. No sooner had she set out did she notice that she was being followed. Then came the lightning bolts. The same outcasts from the previous day had managed to find her… again, and Shocker, their leader was in hot pursuit, electrical blasts flying.

In contrast to her teleporting skill, Moonray felt pretty good about her ability to fly. Before her merge with Shade, she had discovered that she had the natural ability of flight and relished in it. The day she had found out, she spent most of the morning weaving about the sky scrapers of Steel Canyon with a glorious feeling of freedom. She wove back and forth, up and down as she dodged the electricity and threats that Shocker was spewing as he followed her through the air.

Even the worst aim has to be lucky at some point, Moonray realized, as one of Shockers lightning bolts impacted with her unprotected back. The electric currents stunned her out of her nova form and she plummeted to the ground, impacting with a dull thud that knocked the breath from her lungs. Coughing, she was relieved to find that there was no lasting damage from the fall as she staggered to her feet.

Shocker landed lightly a couple of yards away from her, a triumphant smirk on his face as his cronies caught up on foot. To her credit, Moonray put up a good fight; her accuracy was good and most of her blasts hit but did little more than anger the electrified leader of the outcasts. She was forced to give up when an ice covered fist impacted the back of her head, knocking her cold.

Everything was dark, however, Moonray was still semi-conscious. She was aware of the sounds of a fight, grateful for the detached feeling in her body not allowing her to feel any pain. Then she was aware that they weren't hitting her but were getting hit themselves. The sounds of beating ended and she was vaguely aware of a blue blur hovering over her as she cracked her eyes open painfully. She felt a poke at the base of her neck and everything came back into focus.

There, standing over her like her personal guardian angel, was Ranma, a concerned look on his face. "You ok?" he asked, worry lacing his voice.

Moonray's arms reacted even before she told them to, and wrapped themselves around Ranma's neck. "I thought they were going to kill me!" she sobbed into Ranma's shoulder.

Ranma's pigtail stood on end as he was surprised at the unexpected contact, but he hesitantly wrapped his around the sobbing girl till she calmed down. She sniffed and pulled away from the martial artist, but didn't take her arms from around his neck. "Thank you…" she said softly.

Ranma carefully extracted himself from the warshade and offered a smile he hoped was genuine. "We really gotta stop meeting like this, ya know?" he said, helping the blonde girl to her feet.

Moonray wobbled slightly as she stood, but used Ranma's shoulder for support. Once she found her equilibrium, she and Ranma headed toward the entrance to Baumton. "Security cards." The swat officer guarding the gate said gruffly.

Ranma simply blinked in confusion. Security cards? He was pretty sure he didn't have one. 'Yet another reason you should have registered…' Bright said in a sing song voice.

'I'm sorry alright!?' Ranma growled mentally. He grabbed Moonray's arm and dragged her back out of the gateway. "I…don't have a security card. I never registered. What are they anyway?"

Moonray's eyes nearly bugged out. With the power that the boy demonstrated the other day, to think he was not a hero was almost blasphemous. "It gives information on your security clearance…" she said pulling her card out to show Ranma. "Baumton is a hazard zone. Only heroes of a certain level of security clearance," she pointed at a number on the card, "are allowed into hazard zones. If you don't have one they wont let you through."

Ranma frowned. They needed to get into Baumton, but with out a security card, it was nearly hopeless. The umisenken wouldn't work, and he was pretty sure that beating the guards up was taboo. Moonray could almost see the gears turning on Ranma's head and the piped up with a suggestion. "I could…try and teleport you through the gate." She said. "They have wards and stuff that are supposed to prevent that but I'm sure I can do it."

Ranma stared at the blonde girl for a moment before nodding. It didn't look like they had much of a choice. "Call me on the radio thing before you try though." He said.

Moonray nodded happily, glad that Ranma had taken her advice, before showing her card to the swat officers. They waved her through with a wary glance in Ranma direction. Ranma walked a short distance away before the communicator squawked to life. "I'm in position Ranma. Ready?"

"As Ill ever be." He replied. It took a few seconds, but Ranma started to feel a tug on his core. He resisted for a moment but then relented and was immediately pulled through a swirling black and violet portal that sprung to life in front of him. On the other end, a similar portal swirled in front of Moonray, and it soon disgorged a fast moving Ranma. He landed on top of the warshade and the two of them ended up on the ground in a rather compromising position, his hand firmly on her left breast.

Ranma panicked and backed away quickly, saying "I'm sorry…" over and over again. When the expected pummeling failed to arrive, Ranma cracked an eye open and saw Moonray blushing fiercely from a sitting position.

"It's my fault," she said quietly. "I put too much energy trying to get past the wards. Are you ok?"

Wait…it wasn't his fault? That's not right…it's always his fault. Something in the back of Ranma's mind broke as he replayed the events in his head. Everything fell into place, minus the pummeling that never came. Is this the way girls are supposed to act, he wondered. "I'm…fine. Are you?" he asked, finding his feet. He extended a hand to his partner.

Moonray took his hand and let Ranma help her to her feet. She noticed that he was even cuter when he was flustered. "I'm good." She said. Clearing her throat, she opened a small PDA and brought a map of Baumton to the screen. She quickly detailed their plan; since Ranma was the better fighter, she would guard the entrance to the facility and Ranma would go in, confirm that it was indeed a Crey facility, find their core computer and then contact Moonray. She would teleport to him and download as much data as possible then they would make their escape, helping any victim they came across along the way. After making sure Ranma knew it, the two of them began to pick their way through the wreckage that was Baumton.

Ranma looked around in apt horror. This part of the city looked like a post apocalyptic wasteland. None of the buildings were intact and ground was littered with rubble and even a few skeletons. "What happened here?" he asked.

Moonray sighed. "A couple of years ago, a group of aliens, called the Rikti from an alternate earth tried to invade. Most of the fighting was fought here, and this part of the city has yet to fully recover…" she said. "My parents used to live here, but they were caught in the crossfire and killed…"

Ranma put a comforting hand on the girls shoulder when her eyes began to glisten. "I'm sorry." He said. "I didn't know."

Moonray wiped her eyes and smiled. "It's ok. I've accepted it." She said softly. "But when I get the chance, I'm going to make those Rikti bastards pay."

Before long, the two of them reached the hidden entrance to the underground facility. The door before them looked like it lead into an abandoned office building. Moonray pulled a small silver data pad from one of the pouches on her belt and placed it on the door. Punching a few keys, the data pad beeped and the door clicked open. "I've disabled the alarm. Hurry now, and remember to contact me when you've found the computer core."

Ranma nodded, then cloaked himself in the umisenken before slipping into the building. The door clicked softly behind him and he found himself in an entryway similar in make to the underground lab he and Ryoga had destroyed in Japan. Hiding in what shadows he could find, Ranma made his way into the heart of the facility. He heard footsteps approaching from an adjoining hall and pressed himself deeper into a shadow in the hall. Two men in Crey security uniforms walked into the light, both chatting amicably with each other. Ranma fell into step behind them, making sure his steps matched that of one of the guards.

"I can't believe they put a protector in charge of this place." One of them said. "And a new one at that. This place sucked while the Countess was here.

The other guard nodded vehemently. "'Least she's a looker. Almost as hot as the Countess." He said. "Still, they always give me the creeps. Being reanimated corpses and all."

"I just hope they never do to that to me," the first one said again.

Listening to the two of them talk, Ranma decided to try something. He stood up suddenly and asked, "Hey, could either of you tell me where I can find the computer core?"

"Oh sure," the first one said with out turning around. "Just down this hall, make a left at the first intersection then your first right…" he blinked as his eyes caught up with his mouth.

As the second one reached for his pistol, Ranma's arm flashed out, knocking the two guards out. He dragged their bodies into the entrance way and hid them under the entrance ramp. Wrapping himself in the umisenken once more, he made his way to core room. 'I have a bad feeling about what they were saying,' Bright said shakily in his head.

'We'll be fine,' Ranma placated.

Without any other interruptions, Ranma finally came to what he assumed was the core room. It was a rather large room, with a bank of machinery that hummed loudly in the center of the room. Electricity passed between four pylons on each corner of the massive computer as it processed and stored information. Ranma scanned the room and found it suspiciously unguarded. He pulled out his communicator and keyed the button, "Moonray, I'm in the room, but I need ta make sure it's safe before you teleport here. Ya doin' alright out there?" He said.

"Ok, I'm fine." Came the blondes reply. "Just hurry. There are a group of trolls across the street from me that are eyeing me like a piece of meat."

Ranma prowled around the room quickly, and deciding that there was no one in here with him, pressed the button on the communicator again. No sooner than he did so, the on the back of his neck stood on end as his danger sense flared. He ducked just in time to avoid a helmeted, blue and yellow spandex clad woman that flew over his head. "What the hell!?" Ranma shouted.

'Careful Ranma,' Bright cautioned. 'She's a Paragon Protector. They're known to work for Crey and they are very powerful.'

The woman crouched in a ready stance. "Identify yourself," she said in a monotone voice.

Ranma's eyes narrowed at her. Something seemed off about the woman, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "Make me," he sneered.

"Very well," She said in her monotone voice, in a flash, she advanced on Ranma and threw a snap kick at his head.

Ranma managed to lean out of the way just in time, but he felt the power behind the kick. Even Ryoga would have been impressed. The woman followed up with an open hand strike to his midsection and sweep at his feet, both of which were dodged or jumped over respectively. "You just might be a challenge," he said, dropping into an attack stance.

He rushed forward, his elbow outstretched, but the paragon protector dodged it, however she failed to avoid Ranma's follow up back kick, which staggered her. As she stumbled backward, Ranma pressed his advantage and took to the air. As he jumped he threw an aerial round house kick and down ward punch, both of which the woman blocked. When she blocked the punch, she locked her grip around his wrist and hurled him bodily into one of the pylons. The metal buckled under the impact and Ranma slumped to the ground wincing. "You're pretty good," he said, getting to his feet. "I may have to take you seriously."

Despite the solid yellow face plate on her helmet, Ranma could still read the surprise in her body language as he recovered from the throw. Dropping into an attack stance again, he readied himself, before blurring forward. The protector struggled to block all of the blows and an open palm strike slipped through her defense, shattering the faceplate of her helmet and throwing her backward into a wall. She slumped to the floor and glared up at the boy as her red hair fell free from the destroyed helmet.

Even if Bright hadn't been shocked, Ranma was stunned enough to stagger back on his own. Both of them recognized the woman's face. "M-Melanie?" It was impossible. He had felt her die in his arms back in Japan.

'No…NO!' Bright screamed. 'They couldn't have!'

The paragon protector formerly known as Melanie Samson, staggered to her feet, all the while glaring daggers at Ranma. She fell back to her knees and activated something on her wrist, teleporting away. Ranma could feel the absolute anguish rolling off of his friend. "H-h-hey. 'Least she's alive…" he said consolingly.

Bright tried to choke back her emotions, lest they overwhelm her host. 'You don't understand Ranma…' she said between sobs. 'She did die. You felt it, and so did I. I was a fool believing that someone would recover her body before Crey did.' She paused and Ranma could feel her reign in her emotions. 'She's nothing of what she used to be. They reanimated her body and reprogrammed her brain. She's nothing more than a tool now.'

Ranma refused to believe that. The woman he had fought radiated malice. No puppet felt like that. No mere puppet was as skilled as that woman had been. He steeled his will, making up his mind. "No…she's in there somewhere. I know it. Her aura was weak but still felt like it did when I met you in Japan." He said. "We'll find a way ta get her back. I promise."

'Oh you sentimental fool,' Bright said sadly. 'We don't have time for this. You have a mission to complete.'

"Speaking of Moonray." Ranma said carefully. "Should we tell her?"

Bright shook her head. 'No,' she said. 'The poor girl has been through enough.'

"Ok," Ranma said as he keyed his communicator again. "Moonray?"

The girl's frightened voice cracked over the speaker. "Oh my god! Ranma are you ok?" she asked worriedly. "After you shouted, I tried to contact you but you didn't answer and I was so scared that you had been hurt."

Ranma couldn't help but smile. "I'm fine now. The room's clear, you can teleport in whenever ya want."

After a moment, a familiar purple and black portal opened up and hurled Moonray to the floor in a heap. "Owie…" she said as she sat up and rubbed the back of her head. "I guess I need practice."

Ranma walked over and helped her to her feet. "Ya okay?" Ranma led the blonde girl to the computer console on the machines in the center of the room once he made sure. She looked at the broken yellow plexiglass and the dented energy pylon then back at Ranma.

Moonray began to check Ranma for injuries in return. "Did it hurt you?" she asked worriedly. It was no small feat to take on a paragon protector and emerge with nary a scratch.

Ranma waved her off, and Moonray put a computer disk in the console. "Nah," he said. "I'm fine. 'Cides, I heal fast."

Moonray spared him one last worried look before she turned to the computer. She began to work quickly, copying all files she felt were relevant while 'hmming' thoughtfully. After a minute, she was done. "Looks like we're done here," she said. "While this _is_ a Crey facility, the records show that it's not active yet." Moonray pulled a small explosive device from one of the pouches on her belt. Fixing it to the console, she keyed in a few commands. Ten minutes showed up in its digital display then began to count back to zero. "And it doesn't look like they'll ever be." She added with a smirk.

'Good girl!' Bright crowed from Ranma's mind as the two youths began to retreat from the facility. As they neared the door, a volley of bullets 'spanged' off of the metallic floor behind them. Ranma spared a glance over his shoulder and saw a group of black suited agents, much like the ones in Japan, hot on their heels. Ranma stopped and turned to face them, a nasty smirk on his face.

"Ranma?" Moonray questioned.

"Go!" he snapped. "Ill hold them off while you get out. When you do, teleport me with you."

Moonray nodded quickly, knowing better than to argue with the martial artist. She spared a glance back as headed toward the entrance and smiled to herself as Ranma bounced from person to person, laying them flat as he went.

As soon as she was outside, she summoned the energy and pulled Ranma through the portal. Once again Ranma was expelled violently through the wormhole and the two teens ended up in a tangle of limbs. Ranma extracted himself quickly and helped the blonde to her feet. She winced and gasped when she placed her weight on her right leg and almost collapsed again, but Ranma supported her quickly and looked at her thigh. It was oozing blood from a nasty looking wound.

"Why didn't ya tell me you'd been shot!?" Ranma shouted. He concentrated, pushing his kheldian energies and frowned when it failed to close. It did however stop bleeding. 'Gotta work on that,' he thought. He pulled of his blue Chinese shirt and then his black tank top, tearing the latter into strips. He then began to field dress the wound.

Try as she might, Moonray couldn't help but blush at Ranma's administrations. "I guess I didn't notices in all the excitement." She said, gasping as Ranma tightened the bandage. "I'm sorry…"

"It's not your fault." Ranma said as he swept Moonray off her feet; one arm supporting her shoulders, the other her knees. Moonray 'eeped' and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Let's get you to a hospital."

With that, he bounded from low roof to low roof, careful not to jostle the girl in his arms.

Unknown to both of them, a figure hidden amidst the ruins of a broken building smiled to himself. He was sure that the boy would have followed him back to Paragon City, but was pleased with how quickly he had arrived. His eyes flashed with a sinister purple light as he stepped back into the shadows and disappeared as silently as he arrived. His master would be very pleased with this news.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

"What do you mean there's nothing on the boy!?"

"I'm sorry, sir," Molly said, flinching at the anger the man in front of her displayed. The receptionist knew that Statesman would never purposefully harm any innocent citizen of the city, but his anger was still humbling. "He didn't give a previous address, his occupation is martial artist and his family is in Japan. That's all the information he gave when he registered as a visitor of the city."

Statesman groaned and rubbed his temples, trying to ward off a migraine. He knew that it wasn't Molly's fault, but the boy was slippery as an eel. As soon as he had received another report, this time from a longbow patrol that spotted the boy in 'Boomtown', he rushed back down to the registration counter to see if anything had come up. But there was nothing. "I'm sorry, Molly," he said making a placating gesture. "It's not your fault."

"Ill keep looking, sir," Molly said. "My sister's a reporter for the Paragon Post. She tells me that someone matching this boy's description saved her yesterday and she's been looking for him too. If anything comes up, I'll send it to you right away."

Statesman nodded his thanks as he left the counter and headed back to his office. He probably shouldn't be as worried about this 'Ranma Saotome' as he was, but something about this whole situation rubbed him the wrong way. He felt like someone had pulled the wool down in front of his eyes and if there was one thing that Marcus Cole, a.k.a. Statesman, hated the most, it was being in the dark.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

"Indeed,"

Lord Recluses red eyes glinted evilly as he processed the news his newest tool had brought him. There was a rogue in Paragon City. And to make it all the sweeter, Statesman was all the more clueless about it. The gears began to turn in the arch villains head as he pondered a plan to make the best use of this news. Perhaps now would be the best time to make a push in the dimension knows as Recluses Victory. If he could lure this Rogue there and analyze his skills himself…

"Go. Inform my lieutenants that we will make plans to take the alternate Atlas Park."

His new pawn bowed and left the throne room. Things were defiantly looking his way.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Ranma yawned as he returned to his borrowed apartment for the night. He had dropped Moonray off at the hospital and stayed as long as he could to make sure that they took care of his new friend. It turned out that they had to operate on her leg to remove the bullet and repair her thigh bone and wanted to keep her there for a few days. The wards shooed him out once visiting hours were over and Ranma promised to visit her tomorrow. Having nothing else to do, Ranma wandered for a bit.

Finally arriving in Talos Island, he mad his way to the apartment but stopped when he arrived. The sight before him was odd. The warriors had returned, but this time, the tenants were squaring off with them brandishing any weapon they could get their hands on. The tenants cheered for their 'hero' when Ranma came into view, causing the gang members to blanch.

'I told you, you should have registered,' Bright chided him in a sing song voice.

Ranma simply sighed.

It was going to be a long night.


	5. Chapter 5

www(dot)paragonwiki(dot)com for any reference needs.

It had been a long week for Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome school of Anything Goes, and current host to the kheldian known as Bright. He glanced up at the clock from his position on the couch he currently lazed on. The fact that this apartment belonged to an undead girl didn't bother him nearly as much anymore. The fact that said girl was out for his blood did, however. This would normally be cause for most people to lose sleep but not Ranma. He was losing sleep, literally because he had been defending his new 'home' from gang attacks every night.

He didn't know why exactly the Warriors were interested in this building. He didn't even particularly care at this point. He just wished they would go away. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he had kicked them out in the first place. Still, they had left rather peacefully, after Ranma had cracked a few skulls, and vowed to return. He expected an eventual attack, but was it too much to ask that he be allowed to have ONE nights rest?

Every night, the Warriors would attack en masse, and every night, Ranma and his neighbors would beat them back. Four days ago, he noticed that the tenants of the apartment complex had been learning from his style of fighting. Be it conscious effort, or simply hero worship, 'Ranma's Militia' as they styled themselves, had slowly began showing that they could defend themselves. Normally, Ranma would be glad of this, however once he pointed it out, they had all but begged him to show them how to fight. If there was one thing Ranma loved more than anything else, it was his art. He ate, drank, breathed and lived for the thrill of the fight. There was nothing more exciting than learning a new style, or move. But it was an entirely different matter to teach it.

He was shaken from his reverie by a knock as his door. Speaking of which, it was time to begin the tenant's second lesson. Ranma extracted himself from the comfort of the couch with a grunt and plodded toward the door. He had gone days without sleep while on the training journey with this father, so losing a bit of sleep on a day to day basis wouldn't kill him. He answered the door.

Shauna stood at the threshold, dressed in a powder blue track suit, her long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. "Everyone's gathered Ranma-sensei," she said, her brown eyes wide with excitement.

Ranma simply nodded and followed the bubbly woman down to the apartment's grassy courtyard. For today's lesson, he had asked everyone to bring whatever impromptu weapon or implement of pain they had been using for the past five days. He noticed that Shauna carried a stun gun with her. When he reached the courtyard, he recognized Mitch, a hulking black man, hefting a shovel. To Mitch's left stood Jackson, a thing wafer of a man who carried nothing. The rest of the faces were new, Shauna, Mitch and Jackson the only three he recognized from the previous day. He showed them a basic attack stance, and walked among them correcting and modifying them as he saw need. As he did, his mind wandered to his own training.

oooooooooo

He remembered Bright telling him that she would never be able to convert enough of his ki to kheldian energy so that he could fly. That didn't bother him that much. Part of Anything Goes was the ability to adapt, and a lot of his moves and attacks functioned differently, but no less effectively from the ground. A small smile reached his lips when he thought about what he could do with the energy that she had converted.

Ranma had purchased a punching bag with the money that he had withdrawn from Crimson Suns bank account, and he sat on the roof of the apartment building, eagerly putting it together. He nearly drooled in anticipation with all the new techniques he wanted to try.

'I still don't understand why you can't just try the move, Ranma,' Bright said.

Ranma sighed as he tightened another screw in the base of the stand. "'Cause moves act different when ya actually hit something," he explained. "Kinda like, when ya punch air, ya feel nothin', but when ya hit a target, ya learn how to control your force to do the damage ya want."

'I see…' Bright said a little hesitantly. 'But wont you destroy the punching bag?' she asked.

"Nah," Ranma said dismissively. "The guy at the store told me that nothin' short of a small nuke could break this thing."

Bright had her doubts but still smiled at her host's enthusiasm. Ranma finished assembling the bag stand and hung the bag from a convenient hook. He gave the leathery bag a few test punches that sent it swinging wildly, and he smiled with satisfaction. Steadying the bag, he took a step back, then shouted, "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!"

In the space of less than a second, Ranma landed several hundred punched in the same exact spot on the bag, sending it and its stand careening across the roof. 'What on earth was that!?' Bright exclaimed.

As he went over to retrieve the punching bag, Ranma explained the technique to a flustered Bright. He reset the bag stand as he finished the explanation and Bright seemed in awe of the teen's prowess. Ranma made a quick side trip to the storage shed on the roof and retrieved a couple of hundred pound sandbags to weight the stand down with. "Heh," he said. "If ya think that was somethin', wait till ya see what I do next."

Once the stand was weighted down, Ranma moved into position and steadied himself. Calling on some of the kheldian energies he had stored in his reserves, he launched an Amaguriken with his fists wrapped in kheldian energy. The results were devastating. Ranma's jaw gaped when the dust cleared.

The bag had been obliterated, the leather shredded and the sawdust and sand inside nothing but so much dust. What's more, the stand itself had been warped, twisted and torn like a pipe cleaner in the hands of a small child. Even the storage shed had been decimated, nothing more than splinters of wood. "Whoa…Maybe I oughta seal this attack away…"

Bright could only nod in silent agreement.

Ranma shook his head to clear the shock of the devastation. He had one more thing to try. He had an idea that, if it worked, would allow Moonray a bit of hand to hand defense. The girl had a lot of power to work with, but little to no real strength. However, with her last fight, Ranma realized that she was amazingly fast and accurate, though not as much as he was.

Gathering a bit of kheldian energy into his palm, he fired it away a short distance to keep the power from dissipating. It took a few tries, but he eventually got the hang of it. Once that was accomplished, he incorporated the short range blast into an open palm thrust. The white energy blasted out a few feet from his open palm. Smiling in satisfaction, he quickly set about incorporating the short range blast with other strikes and put together a lesson plan for his friend, and what the hiryu shoten ha would be like with kheldian energy to power it.

oooooooooooooo

Ranma couldn't help but smile when he thought of how Moonray's training went. The girl had the raw skill, but she was an absolute klutz. It took a bit, but she eventually grasped the basics, then began to understand the style Ranma had developed for her. Using it was one thing, but actually defending against it… Ranma found out the hard way that it was a devastating style.

ooooooooooo

Ranma smiled at the winded girl that stood in a low ready stance before him. Their morning training sessions had gone exceptionally well. He and Moonray had been meeting every morning for the past few days at a café that was near her apartment. The morning usually began with him rescuing her from the pack of outcasts that seemed intent on tormenting her. Bit by bit that changed when she learned her style, which Ranma coined as 'Nictus-fu'.

The style focused on releasing blasts of nictus or kheldian energy as you struck at your target. It was a lenient style in that the user didn't need to be particularly accurate or strong to actually inflict damage on their opponent. Ranma was sure that if given the time and the chance, he could make the style into something remarkable. But he really didn't care much for the style himself. He liked the visceral meaty smack a fist impacting with a face or gut made. The style was perfect for someone like Moonray, who had neither strength, nor skill.

"Ok," he said to the panting, red faced girl. "Take a breather." He watched as Moonray nearly collapsed to the ground and smiled. She definitely had the drive to learn, and Ranma instinctively knew that teaching her like Genma had taught him would be a Very Bad Thing™. He really didn't want to lose the only real friend he had in this city. "You're doing a great job."

Moonray was more than happy when Ranma had told her that he would teach her how to fight. Even before she was a warshade, her powers consisted of immobilizing her targets with her gravity powers or creating force bubbles to protect her teammates. With only a few days of work, she could tell that she was learning quickly from the boy she had a crush on. "Thank you Ranma," She said as soon as she gained her breath back.

Ranma watched the girl climb unsteadily to her feet. She had yet to hit him with a solid strike, but she had come close. All she needed was some motivation. Ranma thought for a second. 'She's always telling me she wants ta take me ta this coffee shop she knows of,'

'Why don't you tell her that you'll take her there if she hits you?' Bright supplied helpfully. Her emotions raged between pride that Ranma was helping their friend and jealousy that he couldn't do it for her too.

"Right!" he exclaimed, making Moonray jump in fright. "Ill make a deal with ya." He said. Moonray nodded cautiously. "If you can hit me just once, I'll take ya to that coffee shop you're always talkin' about."

Moonray's eyes widened almost comically before a wide grin spread across her face. He was actually going to take her on a date if she could hit him. It was almost like her dream from last night, only with more hitting and less dating. She crouched into a ready stance and raised her arms, the smile never leaving her lips. "Are you ready?"

Ranma put his hands behind his back and nodded. It was amazing that Moonray didn't get angry that he 'wasn't taking her seriously' like Akane did. Then again, she had already shown him that not all girls acted like the ones in Nerima did. She seemed to understand that when he held back, it was because he didn't want to hurt her. With that thought, Moonray dashed forward and lashed out viciously with what Ranma had taught her.

He dodged casually, noting that her speed and accuracy were up a bit. He knew that with the right motivation she would try her hardest. Moonray dropped and lashed her foot out in a quick sweep that Ranma jumped over. 'Improvisation.' He thought happily. He hadn't taught her how to sweep kick, but she used it anyway. Moonray then thrust her palm upward toward the airborne Ranma's chest and twisted out of the way, but he still felt a solid blow to his stomach when he landed. Moonray had used the upper strike as a distraction and nailed him with the blast from her other outstretched palm.

"Hey! Ya did it!" he said happily. "Nice work." Ranma ignored the blow to his pride. Moonray had actually hit him, and it wasn't because he allowed it. "I guess I gotta take ya to that coffee shop."

Moonray giggled and clasped her hands in front of her as she bounced excitedly. A date! With Ranma! Hooray!

oooooooooooo

Ranma gulped as he remembered the agreement he made with Moonray. They had decided to meet this weekend at the coffee shop down the street from her apartment at six p.m.. He knew he was simply taking her out for a cup of coffee, so why did he feel so nervous about it?

Probably the same reason he felt nervous about the letter he sent to the dojo, he noted absently. Ranma dismissed his class for the morning as he reread the letter in his mind.

"Dear Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi, Mr. Tendo, Mom and Pops,

How are things going there? They're a little rough over here. It seems I have just as many people that want me dead here as I did when I was at home. Things aren't all bad though. I have a place to stay, and I'm gonna start teaching my neighbors how to defend themselves from this gang that attacks almost every night.

I've also been teaching my new friend, Moonray some anything goes. She has a lot of potential but she ain't usin' any of it. She's getting better though. Now the real reason I'm writing. I don't know if I wanna come home. I didn't realize just how messed up things were over there till I met the people over here. Could you believe that I haven't been attacked by anyone outta jealousy or spite yet? Everyone that attacks me actually wants me dead. Amazing isn't it?

Anyway, I guess you all wont be too happy with this. Write me back soon.

Sorry, Ranma."

After the last of the tenants had dispersed, Ranma jumped to the roof of the building. Eyeing the crater and trench that his new attack had caused the other day, felt a giddy sensation before he sat on the edge to think. He knew that the letter was blunt and to the point, but the short time he had been in Paragon City had given him a different viewpoint. He was sick of the crap that was always happening to him in Nerima. People who wanted him dead because of a bread feud. Others that wanted him dead because they thought he was trying to steal their girlfriend. Still others that wanted half of him dead because they thought he was hiding his other half from them…

And most of all, all the fiancées that were constantly vying for his attention. He was glad that he could get away from them.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

"Ranma? Are you there? C'mon, pick up the comm.."

Ranma woke with a jerk and fell off the couch as Moonray's voice came through the communicator. He rubbed his eyes blearily and glanced at the clock. It was almost nine, he noted absently. Last night had been the first nights sleep he had since moving into the apartment. Standing up, he stretched till his spine popped and shambled over to the kitchen counter to pick up his communicator. "Yeah, yeah…" he said with a yawn.

He absently remembered that there had been no attack by the warriors on the apartments the previous night and he had fallen asleep on the couch. Despite there being a perfectly good bed in Melanie's room, it just didn't feel right sleeping in some strange girl's bedroom. Besides, the couch was comfortable enough after all he had been through.

"Sleepyhead," Moonray's voice chided playfully through the speaker. "I've been trying to reach you for the past hour." Ranma yawned again as Moonray continued excitedly. "Anyway, I finished going through that information we got a week ago, and I think I know the location of another facility."

Ranma was a wake now. Finally, some action, he thought. "Where?"

"Brickstown," Moonray answered. "They're using prisoners from Zigursky Penitentiary as experiments for a new 8th generation program. Forced nictus bonding."

Ranma vaguely remembered something about that from the data he had collected in Tokyo. "Anything else?" he asked.

"Only a date," she said. "Today's date. Something about the operation moving to the next step. I think we should check it out."

Ranma agreed and the two of them decided to meet at the coffee shop in an hour. Ranma grabbed his mediport transceiver and the communicator and set out. After a short train ride to Steel Canyon, in which Ranma desperately hoped that Moonray wouldn't get attacked, he soon arrived at the 'Java Joint'. However it seemed that for all his hope, certain things were destined to happen.

One, Ranma's life was destined to be difficult. Two, cold water would inevitably find its way to him. See number one. Three, Akane was angry. And lastly, Moonray seemed to attract trouble almost as much as he did.

As he approached the coffee shop, he noticed people fleeing away from it, screaming about a fight. Panicking, Ranma hurried against the crowd, knowing full well what was going on. Finally arriving on the scene, he was stunned by what he saw.

Moonray was actually holding her own, making good use of the style Ranma had developed for her. The four outcasts (yes they added a fourth, earth controlling member, the jerks) that had plagued her for as long as she could remember were actually struggling to hold their own. She dodged and weaved around blasts of fire and lightning. She actually pulverized an ice ball that was thrown at her and flipped over a boulder that was hurled at her from behind. Moonray spun around a fiery strike from Match, and knocked him back with a few well placed torso strikes. Not giving any pause, she whirled around and fired streams of dark energy from her eyes that sent the newcomer, Brick to the ground in a heap.

Ranma clapped enthusiastically, bringing the fight to a halt. Shocker took the opportunity to take to the air. "Nice work, Moonray," Moonray gasped in shock but then blushed with the praise her friend and teacher showed her. "Need any help?" It looked like Moonray was holding her own, but if Ranma was anything, he was an excellent judge of a fighters worth. He knew Moonray was getting better, but she was still far from a master. But if there was anything Ranma had learned from his brief time with the girl, it was that most girls don't like help being forced on them.

Moonray shook her head and wiped the sweat from her brow as the two fallen outcasts regained their feet. "Not really," she said facing the thugs warily. She looked up at Shocker who was now hovering above her then gave Ranma a big grin. "I learned something new. Wanna see?"

Ranma nodded and watched as Moonray raised her arm toward the airborne outcast. A haze of dark energy collected around him then suddenly solidified in a ring at his feet. He squawked as he was dragged forcefully to the ground, impacting with a loud thud. He didn't get up. "Nice!" Ranma shouted.

Match and Freezer had finally regained their feet and glared at Moonray. "We learned something new too!" Match shouted. He nodded at Freezer and the two of them held their arms out, hands almost touching and pointed directly at Moonray. Both of their powers flared and they shot a freezing cold gout of water, not at the girl, but instead directly at Ranma.

"I'm sure we had our aim right this time," Freezer said dejectedly.

Brick pointed at the now female Ranma in answer, his eyes wide with panic.

Ranma stood there, cold water dripping from her smaller frame, and glared daggers at the two bumbling outcasts. The two of them looked unsurely back between the two of them then back at the fuming redhead. "Screw your fight," Ranma seethed. "They're mine…"

Moonray covered her hands with her mouth and gasped as Ranma proceeded to turn the two gang members into human pretzels in the blink of an eye. She winced sympathetically as they groaned and shifted on the pavement. Noticing movement on the roof of the coffee shop, she gasped when she realized that the rock controlling outcast, Brick, was poised to drop a rather large boulder on Ranma, who was dusting her hands off nonchalantly. "Look out!" she screamed running forward as Brick hurled the boulder downward. She pushed Ranma out of the way and the rock landed hard on her leg with a nasty crunching sound. She screamed in pain and clutched her leg.

Ranma staggered backward as Moonray's push was hardly enough to send her to the ground and rushed over to the fallen girl, easily hurling the boulder away. She ignored the fact that the rock landed right on top of Shocker, who was trying to get up now that Moonray's gravity well attack had worn off. "Does this hurt?" she asked as she prodded Moonray's swollen, purple ankle. Moonray gasped and nodded, tears running freely down her face. Ranma frowned when she realized that it was broken. "I'm gonna try something."

Ranma put her hands around the broken ankle and concentrated, trying to heal it. The swelling went down and the pain subsided, but unfortunately the bruise didn't fade and Moonray still couldn't move her ankle. Ranma sighed but Moonray tried to cheer her up. "You're getting much better at that." She said. Ranma just sighed and picked her up, eliciting a squeak from the warshade.

"Lets get you to the hospital…"

After carrying Moonray to the hospital, and being chastised harshly by the nurses for not taking care of her, Ranma managed to convince Moonray to let her go take care of the Crey facility. Moonray told her to gather as much information and rescue as many people as possible. Ranma changed back to his male form to the shock of the hospital staff and then left for Brickstown with the promise to be careful. It didn't take him long to find the place, especially considering that it was being guarded by a pair of power tanks, and after a brief fight, entered the lab.

It was similar to the other two that Ranma had been in. The maze-like metallic corridors reeked of recirculated and filtered air, but this one looked like it had been decimated already. The light fixtures were broken and sparking in places, and there were claw marks gouged into the steel walls. Every so often, Ranma would see an unconscious or dead guard, all with the same nasty claw marks on their bodies.

"What happened here?" Ranma whispered.

'I'm not sure, Ranma,' Bright said. 'But be careful.'

Ranma crept down the halls as silently as possible, completely forgetting the umisenken. His mission had changed from, 'get info and rescue' to, 'find out what the hell happened here'. As he snuck down the hall, he swore he could hear voices from an adjacent room. He stopped by the entryway and listened intently. There were at least two people in there, a man and a woman, and they were arguing about something.

"Who's idea was it to resume experiments on HER!?" one of them, the woman, shrieked.

"They were orders from the countess herself," one of the men said in a nasally voice. "Capturing her was a test for our first successful eighth here. Besides, I always finish what I started. She was something of a pet project of mine before she escaped the first time."

"That doesn't matter!" the woman shrieked again. She was clearly mad at the nasally man. "If you were going to continue the beast experiment, you should have at least taken proper precautions!" Ranma heard something thump, most likely the woman pounding her fist on something. "Now the experiment is a failure!"

The man laughed a nasally laugh and said, "On the contrary, we can test the eighth further because of it."

"How…?" the woman asked, clearly suspicious.

"We can have him subdue the subject as a test to see his power." The nasally man continued. Ranma leaned around the edge and peered into the room. There, in the ruins of a laboratory, stood two scientists and another paragon protector, clad in a similar outfit to what Melanie was wearing a week ago. Ranma felt a twinge of guilt come from Bright.

'We'll find her,' he reassured the kheldian.

The protector's facemask turned toward Ranma. "We are being observed." He said, his voice muffled behind his helmet.

"Don't just stand there!" The woman shrieked again and the mans heavily scarred face twisted in rage. "Get him!"

As the yellow and blue suited protector rushed toward Ranma, bony spines extended from his forearms and back and a purple bubble sprang to life around him. 'He's a nictus!' Bright shouted in his mind.

Ranma flipped back and a way from the rushing protector, landing in a ready crouch. 'I know that!' Ranma mentally seethed back. He dodged a few errant swipes and jumped away from a purple energy blast. Ranma glided forth, pushing the attack back on his opponent, but every one of his attack was either deflected by the purple energy shield or countered with sharp painful jabs by the mans spines. After a few painful stabs, Ranma retreated a ways to heal the wounds. 'Dammit! I cant get past his stupid shield!'

'Use the kheldian energy to attack Ranma,' Bright advised. 'It may penetrate his shield.'

Ranma wrapped his fists with the glowing white energy and waited for the spiny man to attack him again. He did, but Ranma was completely on the defensive, parrying, blocking and counter attacking himself. He had to suppress a whoop of joy when he realized that his energy wrapped fists were making contact with the nictus fused protectors body after landing a solid punch to the mans sternum.

The protector staggered back clutching his chest. "You are strong," he said simply.

"I'm the best," Ranma boasted in return. He dashed forward, throwing a flurry of blows that drove the man back before finally landing a vicious uppercut/right hook/back fist that sent the man sprawling. Amazingly enough, the protector still staggered to his feet. "I see I must use everything I have against you." He said, his voice still neutral beneath the helmet.

Ranma's response was to ready himself, his hand up in a defensive position. But then his eyes widened as the man hunched over with a cry of pain, and spines began to grow out all over his body. "Are you ok?" he asked worriedly. The protector might be an enemy but Ranma didn't want him to suffer. He hesitantly held a hand out but pulled it back suddenly as the spines began to glow with nictus energy.

'Be careful Ranma,' Bright cautioned. 'I've never encountered anything like this before.'

Ranma didn't have a chance to respond as the mans head snapped up and he rushed forward with an inhuman speed. It took everything Ranma had to dodge his attacks but he was still nailed with a nasty elbow that floored him. Ranma kipped to his feet just in time to avoid a flying spine that the man launched at him, but was soon on the defensive again as the protector pushed his attack. Ranma dodged, weaved and counter attacked when the opportunity presented itself and managed to land a solid side kick to the mans solar plexus, staggering him back.

Ranma realized that he had to end this fight soon. His opponent seemed like he had endurance levels that were near Ryoga. Plus, he realized to his dismay, that the spines were toxic. He could feel a lot of the scrapes and cuts that the spines produced burning.

Suddenly, the protector hunched forward again, his arms pointed toward the martial artist. The hairs on the back of Ranma's neck stood on end as the protector launched every spine on his body at him. Ranma realized too late that volley filled the hallway and he wouldn't be able to dodge, so he instead put his arms in front of his face, hoping that he wouldn't be pincushoned too badly.

To his surprise, none of the spines reached him, instead slowing like they had been shot into water before dropping to the ground. He was looking out of something akin to a soap bubble, and realized that it was a shield much like the nictus one. The shield faltered and vanished and he heard Bright gasp in his mind.

'That expended me, Ranma,' she said wearily. 'You are on your own. I must rest, now.'

'Thanks, Bright,' he said as he readied himself to attack. He knew that he only had his reserves of kheldian energy to use now. Better hope I don't get hurt, he thought bitterly.

"This is troubling," The protector said, his voice sounding strange, like he was speaking with two distinct voices at the same time. The man hunched over and re-grew his spines with a disgusting squelch.

Ranma smirked his infuriating smirk. Time to give the 'Shining Amaguriken' a field test. "It ends with this next move," he said confidently as his battle aura flared into existence. The two of them charged each other and as they neared, Ranma attacked with his new move. Try as he might, the protector couldn't block any of the punches. Everyone on of them either slipped around his guard, or smashed through the spines he grew to protect himself. The force of the attack shredded his uniform and shattered his helmet, as well as crushed most of his bones in his chest.

After a few seconds, the barrage ended and the protector was blasted backward into a faraway wall where he was embedded into it. He slumped weakly and stopped moving with a groan. Ranma smirked with satisfaction while he shook the feeling back into his hands. He had to admit, the attack was flashy and effective. A little too effective, he realized with a pang of regret. He hoped that the man was still alive after that. 'Oh well,' he thought as he entered the room with the scientists. The two of them regarded him with odd expressions.

"Who the hell are you?" the female scientist demanded.

"I'm the guy that just beat the crap outta your body guard," Ranma said smarmily. "So if ya don't mind, I'm gonna ask the questions."

"What do you want to know?" Asked the man with the nasally voice. He glanced at his female companion out of the corner of his eye and saw her reach for her Crey cryopistol.

"Well for one," he said, this time to the woman. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." The woman gulped audibly and let her hand fall to her side. "Remember, I beat that freak out there. Second…" Ranma took a deep breath. "What the hell's goin' on here!?"

The two scientists looked at each other again. "No harm in telling him…" the woman said regretfully. "Well, you should follow us. It would be easier to show you."

Ranma narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her but stepped aside to let her go. "Lead the way, but if ya try anythin' funny, Ill pound ya,"

The woman nodded but led Ranma down a series of halls. He noticed warily that the claw marks and pools of blood seemed to lead this way. He didn't bother to ask any questions, but was pretty sure he wouldn't like what he saw. After about ten minutes, the three of them came to an air lock. The solid metal doors seemed to have claw marks in them just like the walls but were shut. "Its in here," the female scientist said.

"What is?" Ranma asked, sure that he really didn't want to know.

The male scientist went to a key pad on the wall to punch in the access code to release the emergency lockdown. As the doors hissed open, the woman turned to Ranma with a sneer. "Our secret weapon."

Ranma's attention was torn from the woman's horrible expression to the darkened room beyond the doors. He took a hesitant step in but froze when he heard a sound that sent shivers up and down his spine. It was a sound like none other, one he hoped he would never have to hear again. He took a quick step back, and the sound repeated itself. How on earth did they know?

The two scientists looked at each other in confusion as Ranma froze in absolute terror. Who knew that he would be so terrified of Mynx…?

Ranma's brain went into overload as a figure emerged from the darkness. She was crouched on all fours, her green eyes glinting malevolently up at the martial artist. Her body was covered by a blood-spattered blue and silver tiger striped body suit. As she slinked forward, Ranma scrambled backward, his eyes fixed on her twitching tail, and the feline ears that protruded from her red hair. It was a monster in his eyes, nothing more terrible. Then it uttered a foul, horrible noise emerged from her throat that sent Ranma fleeing for his very soul.

Mynx yowled.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Back at the hospital, Moonray had received some pleasant news: her ankle wasn't broken, just sprained. It seemed that Ranma had managed to actually heal most of the damage with his 'glowing touch' ability and the medic geniuses at the hospital were able to heal the sprain in record time. Soon after, Moonray was discharged from the hospital and she hurried to the yellow line train station to take her to Brickstown. Her mind was imagination was working over time as she fantasized about her arriving in the nick of time, saving her crush from the clutches of the vile Crey Corporation.

"Moonray," Ranma would breathe huskily as he took her into his warm embrace. "You saved me."

Moonray would blush demurely. "Its nothing you wouldn't do for me, my Ranma," she would reply.

Ranma would pick her up in his strong arms and gaze dispassionately at the bodies around him. "Come. Let us leave this foul place and consummate our love!"

Moonray giggled uncontrollably as she boarded the train, ignoring the unnerved stares the other passengers gave her. The train ride was short and Moonray transformed into her nova form to fly from the station in Brickstown to the entrance. When she landed, she noticed the two unconscious bodies of the power tanks and realized that since they hadn't been teleported away to the Zig, or even to another Crey facility for treatment, that Ranma hadn't been here for very long. "Good," She said to herself. "That means I can help."

She entered the facility, sure that there were no guards, but when she passed the threshold she paused. This was nothing like the other facility, she noted absently. She saw the same broken light fixtures, the same claw gouges, and the same blood pools that Ranma had seen and shivered. Ranma didn't do this…she wondered. Did he?

She made her way hesitantly through the facility in the opposite direction Ranma had gone. The claw marks and blood pools became more sparse in this direction. She notices also that there were no bodies to accompany the blood, meaning that they had been ported away. Meaning that, to her relief, Ranma hadn't done it.

"Who the hell are you?!" came a startled voice, shocking Moonray out of her reverie.

Moonray looked up, startled, at a group of three blue suited Crey security guards. "Uh…" she said at a loss for words.

"Who cares!?" one of the guards shouted. "Get her!"

With that, the three men rushed the warshade with their batons brandished. Moonray reacted instinctively and dropped into a stance that Ranma taught her, striking out with her open palms and throwing dark nictus energy at her attackers. She managed to drop and immobilize the other with her gravity well before another ducked inside her guard and swung his night stick in a wide arc.

She managed to grab it, but the impact jarred her arm. Ignoring the pain, and the shocked look on the guards face, she elbowed him in the gut and with the same arm, smashed the heel of her palm into his face. He staggered back, blood flowing from his ruined nose, and Moonray smiled satisfactorily. Her nictus partner enjoyed causing pain and destruction, all in the name of good of course.

The guard pinched his nose shut to staunch the flow of blood. "You bitch!" he said. The guard the Moonray floored regained his feet while the one trapped in the gravity well fainted with the stress. That left two of them.

Moonray readied herself as the two men rushed her again, but before anyone could throw any attacks, an unearthly, inhuman scream of absolute terror echoed through the hall, drawing shivers from everyone. The three of them looked down the hall in the direction the scream came from and paled.

"Ranma?" Moonray asked in shock.

Ranma barreled through the corridor, his blue shirt in tatters and a look of extreme fear on his face. He barreled through the two guards leaving them in unconscious heaps on the floor, followed closely by a catgirl in a blue spandex body suit chasing him on all fours, three claw-like blades extended from the knuckles on each hand. The two of them ripped around the corner and into a large laboratory.

Mynx finally managed to corner her prey. There was nothing better than a good hunt, in her opinion, but all good things must come to an end. She stalked forward, savoring the fear her prey was radiating. Ever so slowly, she crept forward, closer to the terrified teen.

"Ranma?" Moonray called cautiously as she entered the lab. She may have known him only a short while, but from what she knew, Ranma would never run like that. "Are you ok?"

Mynx hissed bitterly. Meddling girl, she thought. She would take care of her prey first before the girl. The girl was weak. Weaker than the boy in front of her, but she had the boy right where she wanted him.

Finally, Ranma's psyche couldn't take it anymore. He knew in his logical mind that it was just a girl in a cat costume that was stalking him, but his ailurophobia didn't care. She was cat enough. Human Ranma retreated into his subconscious and let Neko Ranma out, and he took over gladly.

Neko Ranma yowled and narrowed his eyes at the sudden threat crouched in front of him. She wasn't a playmate, nor was she a friend. But she smelled like she was in heat. Perhaps she would make a good mate, but he would have to show her his dominance first. He took advantage of the female's sudden shock and prowled forward on all fours, his 'claws' extended as a show of force. The two cats/humans faced off, yowling and hissing at each other and leaving the warshade in a state of utter confusion.

"R-Ranma?" Moonray asked as she extended a hand forward. Why is he acting like a cat, she wondered. And why is he ignoring me? And why is he fighting a member of the Vindicators? Nothing made sense to her.

In a lightning quick blur, Mynx dashed forward and slashed, but Neko Ranma was faster. He dodged to the side and Mynx's metal claws rent another trio of grooves in the steel floor. Mynx lashed out again and again, but only managed to strike air or the surrounding walls as Neko Ranma danced around the attacks. As Mynx swiped again, Neko Ranma took the advantage and batted her upside her head with his 'claws' retracted.

Mynx rolled with the blow and skidded to a halt a few feet away, hissing at Neko Ranma. Maybe he wasn't prey after all, she thought. She could smell his heightened pheromones and could tell that he wanted to mate. She had no doubt that he would father a litter of strong kittens, but she also would be damned if she let him have his way. Yowling, she lunged ahead and swiped, but again to her frustration, Ranma evaded. Once again, he swatted her with a bare 'paw' and sent her sprawling. As soon as she had recovered, the two of them began to fight in earnest.

Moonray, the two crazy people were blue blurs as the bounded off of walls fixtures and even the ceiling. Moonray had never seen anyone move as fast as the two cat people were moving, but when their attacking frenzy finally ended Moonray could still see that Ranma was the better.

Mynx staggered as she came to a stop and she struggled to keep her feet, but it was a futile gesture. Her opponent was striking to subdue, and he was a much better fighter that she was. With a final thought of, 'I wonder what our kittens will look like," her eyes rolled up into her head and she fainted.

Ranma padded over to his other prospective mate and grabbed her hand in his mouth. He gently dragged her over to the unconscious form of his new mate and meowed up at her. 'Help me?' he seemed to ask with his eyes.

Moonray sighed, but she picked Mynx up in a fireman's carry. She didn't know just what Ranma wanted, but she was pretty sure he wasn't in his right mind right now. It was pretty clear to her that they would get in trouble if they didn't get Mynx to safety. She watched Ranma pad a ways down the hall and beckon her to follow him. She just knew she would regret this later.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

Ryoga paused to catch his breath after the fight. After he had convinced the Shinjuku police that he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and managed be place the blame squarely on Ranma, he had once again set out to find Ranma and woo Akane. He had gotten lost on his way, and ended up in a place the residents called 'Grandville'. Somehow he had run afoul of a metal clad, energy spewing monster that called himself Black Scorpion. All Ryoga had asked for was directions to the dojo and monster had attacked him for no apparent reason. It was a rough fight, but Ryoga had triumphed in the end.

He looked down at the fallen form of the villain that attacked him and glowered. Somehow this was Ranma's fault. He wasn't sure how just yet, but he knew. It was always Ranma's fault. "Damn you Ranma Saotome!" he shouted to the sky, startling the few onlookers that were present.

A woman dressed in skintight red latex with a black spider emblazoned on the front detached herself from the crowd. Ryoga turned toward her and had to pinch his nose shut to stop the onrush of a nosebleed. "What?" he growled from under his hand.

"My name is Kalinda," The woman said. She smiled as she pushed a stray lock of her black hair behind her ear. It was a cold smile that Ryoga knew instinctively not to trust, but he couldn't tear his gaze from her glittering green eyes. "My liege, Lord Recluse, has a proposition for you, Ryoga Hibiki." She said with a voice that was silky smooth.

"How do you know my name?" Ryoga asked suspiciously.

"Arachnos knows many things." She said confidently. "Like how you'd like to get sweet revenge on one Ranma Saotome."

This perked Ryoga's interest. "I'm listening." He said. His nosebleed had stopped.

"Then if you'll kindly come with me," Kalinda said. "We have many things to discuss."

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.

"He's done what?!" Statesman shouted, his face livid with rage.

The longbow sergeant stared impassively from beneath his white cowl. He was used to the blind rages that the leader of the Freedom Phalanx frequently expressed. He knew that he was safe. Statesman was after all the incarnate of Zeus. And with that came the king of the gods' legendary temper. He waited for the man to calm down before repeating himself. "We have a first hand witness who claims that Ranma Saotome subdued and kidnapped Mynx with the help of his sidekick, a warshade named Moonray." He said calmly.

Statesman sighed. He new that he should have done something in the first place, instead of trying to research the boy. "Very well," he said tiredly. "Dismissed."

The longbow sergeant clicked his heels together sharply and saluted before leaving Statesman's office. Statesman stared at the retreating man's back, and set his resolve. Picking up a communicator, he set it to the frequency that both the Freedom Phalanx and the Vindicators used. "This is Statesman," he said simply. "I need everyone to meet me at our H.Q. in a half an hour. We have a rogue."


End file.
